Satellite Pictures Reveal Iran's Naval Forces and Nuclear Locations Struck by US-Israeli Military Action.
A wave of US and Israeli attacks has reportedly sunk or crippled at least eleven Iranian naval vessels starting Saturday, new satellite images reveal, with rocket sites and nuclear sites also being targeted.
Photographs of the southerly Konarak military port and the Bandar Abbas installation, which is located on the Strait of Hormuz and houses the main command of the Iran's naval force, reveal black smoke pouring from several vessels on recent days.
Naval Forces Incurred Significant Losses
Among the vessels destroyed was the IRINS Makran, Iran's most sizable ship which had served as a unmanned aerial vehicle platform. Aerial imagery indicated black smoke emanating from the vessel which had been docked at the Bandar Abbas base.
Intelligence evaluations suggest that at least a quintet of warships at the port were "damaged or eliminated". Photos of the southern end of the harbor show smoke rising from the IRINS Makran, while two other ships seem to be damaged, with one of them visibly ablaze.
Over at Konarak, images show multiple stricken vessels, with expert review pointing to damage to six vessels. Photos taken on the start of the week also indicate that a number of buildings at the installation have been leveled.
"For decades the Iranian regime has harassed global maritime traffic," the head of US Central Command stated. "Today, there is not a single Iranian vessel operational in the Persian Gulf, Hormuz Strait or Gulf of Oman, and we will persist."
A number of ships allegedly sunk may have been hidden in satellite images by weather conditions or battle damage, or hit in open waters, and have not been conclusively proven. Other accounts stated that one Iranian ship was going down off the coast of Sri Lanka's waters, prompting a rescue operation.
Missile Sites and Nuclear Facilities Hit
Eliminating Tehran's launch facilities and the stopping enrichment activities were declared as other aims of the military strikes. Aerial imagery also revealed impacts against the southern Khorgu base and northwestern Tabriz missile bases, and at the Konarak air base, where missile storage facilities and fortifications were struck.
At the Choqa Balk-e drone unmanned aircraft site west of Kermanshah, significant damage was seen to storage buildings, bunkers and drone launch equipment.
Damage was also observed at a radar installation at the Zahedan airbase airbase in eastern parts of the country, near the frontier with neighboring nations.
Significantly, the most recent series of attacks have apparently hit facilities at the Natanz complex – long said to be at the center of the country's enrichment efforts. An international watchdog commented that the affected buildings were used for access to the facility's below-ground nuclear plant and that "no radiological consequence" was likely.
Broader Fallout and Analysis
Observers suggested that the offensive appeared to have "significantly degraded" the Iran's naval capacity to conduct conventional attacks using its biggest vessels. However, it was noted that Tehran maintains the capacity to launch irregular strikes at sea through the use of unmanned aerial vehicles, small submarines and its so-called "shadow fleet" of oil ships.
The overall scale of the destruction caused to Iran's defense facilities remains unclear, with strikes said to be continuing. Imagery also indicates widespread destruction to the command center of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in the capital Tehran.
Numerous of public facilities also seem to have been struck in the capital city and throughout the country since the hostilities escalated. Casualty figures from local officials suggest that hundreds of civilians may have been killed in the attacks.
As the situation develops, analysis of satellite imagery will persist to assess the unfolding scope of damage.