Space-Based Images Show Iranian Naval Forces and Nuclear Locations Damaged by American and Israeli Strikes.
A wave of joint airstrikes has according to analysis sunk or crippled a minimum of 11 Iran's navy ships starting Saturday, new orbital imagery show, with launch facilities and atomic facilities also being targeted.
Pictures of the southerly Konarak military port and the Bandar Abbas port installation, which overlooks the Strait of Hormuz and contains the main command of the Iran's naval force, show black smoke pouring from several ships on recent days.
Naval Fleet Sustained Substantial Losses
Among the ships sunk was the IRINS Makran, the country's largest naval vessel which had functioned as a drone carrier. Satellite images indicated thick smoke pouring from the vessel which had been stationed at the Bandar Abbas base.
Intelligence evaluations suggest that at least five vessels at Bandar Abbas were "hit or sunk". Imagery of the southern end of the harbor reveal smoke emanating from the IRINS Makran, while additional ships are visibly impacted, with one of them clearly on fire.
Over at the Konarak base, photos display multiple damaged ships, with intelligence reports identifying damage to six ships. Images from Monday also show that several structures at the installation have been destroyed.
"For decades the Tehran government has harassed global maritime traffic," the head of US Central Command said. "At present, there is not a single vessel from Iran operational in the Arabian Gulf, Hormuz Strait or Gulf of Oman, and we will persist."
Some vessels reportedly destroyed may have been hidden in satellite images by cloud or smoke, or struck at sea, and have yet to be fully confirmed. Other accounts indicated that an Iranian vessel was going down off the coast of Sri Lanka's waters, leading to a search and rescue mission.
Missile Bases and Nuclear Facilities Hit
Neutralizing Iran's rocket sites and the stopping nuclear weapons development were declared as additional goals of the military strikes. Aerial imagery also depicted damage at the southern Khorgu base and northwestern Tabriz missile bases, and at the Konarak base, where rocket warehouses and bunkers were hit.
Over at the Choqa Balk-e unmanned aircraft site west of Kermanshah, widespread damage was observed to sheds, bunkers and drone launch equipment.
Impact was also noted at a radar installation at the Zahedan military airport in eastern parts of the country, near the frontier with Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Perhaps most notably, the new round of strikes have apparently targeted installations at the Natanz complex – considered at the core of Iran's enrichment efforts. The UN's atomic energy body commented that the affected structures were used for access to the facility's underground nuclear plant and that "no nuclear fallout" was expected.
Wider Fallout and Assessment
Defense experts stated that the strikes appeared to have "significantly degraded" the Iranian navy's capability to carry out conventional attacks using its biggest vessels. However, it was emphasised that Tehran maintains the capacity to launch unconventional attacks at sea through the use of drones, midget subs and its so-called "clandestine network" of tankers.
The full scale of the damage caused to Iran's defense infrastructure has yet to be fully assessed, with hostilities reportedly continuing. Imagery also indicates considerable destruction to the headquarters of the Iran's Revolutionary Guards in the city of Tehran.
A significant number of civilian buildings also appear to have been hit in the capital and throughout Iran since the fighting escalated. Reports of deaths from inside Iran indicate that a high number of non-combatants may have been killed in the attacks.
Amid continuing hostilities, monitoring of satellite imagery will persist to track the unfolding scope of damage.