Aerial Photographs Depict Iranian Naval Forces and Atomic Sites Hit by Joint US and Israeli Attacks.
Multiple joint strikes has reportedly sunk or crippled at least eleven warships belonging to Iran since Saturday, recently obtained aerial photos demonstrate, with launch facilities and enrichment plants also sustaining hits.
Pictures of the southerly Konarak naval base and the Bandar Abbas installation, which sits on the Strait of Hormuz and contains the headquarters of the Iran's naval force, show plumes of smoke rising from multiple warships on recent days.
Maritime Assets Sustained Significant Losses
Included in the targets eliminated was the IRINS Makran, Iran's most sizable ship which had been used as a unmanned aerial vehicle platform. Orbital photos displayed thick smoke emanating from the ship which had been moored at the Bandar Abbas naval base.
Analytical evaluations suggest that no fewer than five vessels at the port were "damaged or eliminated". Photos of the southern part of the harbor reveal smoke rising from the Makran, while another pair of ships are visibly damaged, with a single one clearly on fire.
At the Konarak base, images reveal several harmed ships, with expert review pointing to impacts on six ships. Photos from Monday also show that multiple facilities at the base have been leveled.
"For many years the Tehran government has disrupted international shipping," an American commander said. "Now, there is not one Iranian ship at sea in the Arabian Gulf, Strait of Hormuz or Sea of Oman, and we will continue."
A number of vessels allegedly sunk may have been concealed in aerial photos by haze or plumes, or struck at sea, and have not been independently verified. Separate reports suggested that a ship from Iran was going down off the coast of Sri Lanka's territorial waters, resulting in a search and rescue mission.
Rocket Sites and Nuclear Facilities Attacked
Eliminating Iranian missile bases and the stopping enrichment activities were listed as other objectives of the military strikes. Satellite images also revealed impacts against the southern Khorgu base and north-western Tabriz missile bases, and at the Konarak air base, where rocket warehouses and fortifications were struck.
At the Choqa Balk-e drone base to the west of Kermanshah, widespread destruction was observed to storage buildings, bunkers and drone launch equipment.
Impact was also seen at a surveillance station at the Zahedan airbase airbase in eastern parts of the country, near the frontier with neighboring nations.
Significantly, the new round of strikes have apparently focused on installations at Natanz – considered at the heart of the country's atomic program. An international watchdog commented that the damaged structures were used for access to the facility's underground nuclear plant and that "no radiological consequence" was expected.
Wider Impact and Assessment
Military analysts stated that the offensive appeared to have "largely neutralized" the Iran's naval ability to sustain traditional warfare using its largest warships. Nevertheless, it was noted that Iran still has the capacity to launch asymmetric warfare at sea through the use of unmanned aerial vehicles, small submarines and its so-called "clandestine network" of tankers.
The total extent of the destruction caused to Iranian military facilities has yet to be fully assessed, with hostilities said to be continuing. Pictures also reveals considerable damage to the main offices of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in the city of Tehran.
Numerous of civilian buildings also seem to have been damaged in the capital and throughout Iran since the hostilities escalated. Casualty figures from ground sources indicate that many hundreds of civilians may have been killed in the attacks.
Amid continuing hostilities, monitoring of satellite imagery will continue to track the evolving battlefield picture.