Aerial Photographs Show Iranian Naval Forces and Nuclear Locations Struck by American and Israeli Military Action.
Multiple US and Israeli attacks has allegedly destroyed or damaged at least 11 Iran's navy ships since the weekend, recently obtained satellite images reveal, with launch facilities and nuclear sites also being targeted.
Images of the southern Konarak naval naval base and the Bandar Abbas port facility, which overlooks the strategic Hormuz Strait and contains the main command of the Iran's naval force, depict smoke billowing from a number of warships on the start of the week.
Naval Fleet Incurred Major Damage
Included in the vessels destroyed was the IRINS Makran, the country's largest naval vessel which had been used as a drone carrier. Orbital photos indicated thick smoke pouring from the vessel which had been moored at the Bandar Abbas base.
Analytical assessments suggest that at least five vessels at the port were "struck or destroyed". Photos of the south end of the port show smoke emanating from the IRINS Makran, while additional ships are visibly harmed, with one of them visibly ablaze.
At the Konarak base, photos display numerous harmed ships, with expert review pointing to strikes against six vessels. Pictures from the start of the week also indicate that multiple buildings at the installation have been leveled.
"For decades the Iranian regime has harassed commercial vessels," an American commander declared. "Today, there is not one vessel from Iran at sea in the Persian Gulf, Hormuz Strait or Gulf of Oman, and we will persist."
Some vessels reportedly sunk may have been hidden in aerial photos by weather conditions or battle damage, or hit in open waters, and have not been independently verified. Other accounts suggested that a ship from Iran was going down near Sri Lanka's waters, leading to a search and rescue mission.
Rocket Sites and Nuclear Locations Attacked
Eliminating Tehran's launch facilities and the hindering of atomic bomb programs were stated as additional aims of the military strikes. Satellite images also revealed impacts against the southern Khorgu and north-western Tabriz missile missile bases, and at the Konarak air base, where missile storage facilities and fortifications were targeted.
At the Choqa Balk-e drone base to the west of Kermanshah, extensive destruction was seen to sheds, underground facilities and drone launch equipment.
Impact was also noted at a radar site at the Zahedan airbase airbase in eastern Iran, close to the border with neighboring nations.
Perhaps most notably, the latest wave of strikes have reportedly focused on facilities at the Natanz complex – considered at the core of Iran's nuclear programme. The UN's atomic energy body stated that the damaged buildings were used for access to the facility's underground enrichment facility and that "no nuclear fallout" was anticipated.
Broader Consequences and Assessment
Defense experts indicated that the attacks appeared to have "significantly degraded" the Iran's naval capacity to conduct standard operations using its most significant vessels. However, it was stressed that Tehran retains the capacity to launch asymmetric warfare at sea through the use of unmanned aerial vehicles, mini-submarines and its so-called "clandestine network" of oil ships.
The total extent of the destruction caused to Iranian military infrastructure is still uncertain, with attacks said to be ongoing. Photos also shows widespread destruction to the command center of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in the capital Tehran.
A large number of public facilities also are reported to have been hit in the capital city and throughout Iran after the hostilities began. Casualty figures from local officials indicate that hundreds of civilians may have been killed in the bombardment.
With the conflict ongoing, analysis of aerial photographs will carry on to track the changing military landscape.