Satellite Images Indicate Iran's Navy and Atomic Locations Targeted by American and Israeli Strikes.
A series of American and Israeli airstrikes has according to analysis sunk or crippled no fewer than eleven Iran's navy ships since the weekend, new orbital imagery show, with rocket sites and atomic facilities also sustaining hits.
Images of the southerly Konarak military port and the Bandar Abbas port facility, which is located on the strategic Hormuz Strait and houses the headquarters of the Iranian navy, depict plumes of smoke rising from several vessels on recent days.
Naval Assets Incurred Substantial Losses
Included in the vessels destroyed was the IRINS Makran, Iran's most sizable ship which had served as a unmanned aerial vehicle platform. Aerial imagery indicated thick smoke emanating from the vessel which had been docked at the Bandar Abbas naval base.
Intelligence assessments state that no fewer than five vessels at Bandar Abbas were "damaged or eliminated". Pictures of the south end of the port show smoke rising from the Makran, while two other ships appear to be harmed, with a single one visibly ablaze.
At Konarak, photos display numerous harmed ships, with analysis pointing to strikes against six vessels. Photos from the start of the week also demonstrate that multiple buildings at the installation have been demolished.
"For decades the Iran's leadership has threatened global maritime traffic," an American commander said. "At present, there is no vessel from Iran underway in the Persian Gulf, Hormuz Strait or Gulf of Oman, and we will continue."
Some vessels allegedly destroyed may have been obscured in satellite images by haze or plumes, or targeted offshore, and have not been independently verified. Other accounts indicated that one Iranian ship was sinking near Sri Lanka's waters, leading to a search and rescue mission.
Rocket Bases and Nuclear Facilities Targeted
Eliminating Iranian missile bases and the stopping enrichment activities were listed as other aims of the military strikes. Aerial imagery also depicted strikes on the southerly Khorgu and northwestern Tabriz missile missile bases, and at the Konarak air base, where weapons bunkers and fortifications were struck.
At the Choqa Balk-e drone unmanned aircraft site to the west of the city of Kermanshah, extensive destruction was seen to sheds, bunkers and drone launch equipment.
Damage was also seen at a radar site at the Zahedan military airport in eastern parts of the country, close to the frontier with Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Perhaps most notably, the most recent series of strikes have apparently focused on sites at Natanz – widely believed to be at the heart of Iran's nuclear programme. The UN's atomic energy body said that the damaged buildings were used for access to the facility's below-ground nuclear plant and that "no radiological consequence" was likely.
Broader Impact and Assessment
Observers stated that the attacks appeared to have "largely neutralized" the Iranian navy's capability to carry out standard operations using its biggest vessels. But, it was noted that Iran retains the capacity to launch irregular strikes at sea through the use of unmanned aerial vehicles, midget subs and its so-called "clandestine network" of oil ships.
The overall scale of the damage caused to Iranian military infrastructure is still uncertain, with strikes said to be continuing. Pictures also shows considerable destruction to the main offices of the the IRGC in the capital Tehran.
Numerous of public facilities also seem to have been hit in the capital and across Iran since the hostilities began. Reports of deaths from inside Iran suggest that many hundreds of civilians may have been fatally injured in the attacks.
Amid continuing hostilities, analysis of satellite imagery will persist to assess the unfolding battlefield picture.