Space-Based Pictures Reveal Iran's Navy and Nuclear Facilities Hit by Joint US and Israeli Military Action.
A wave of US and Israeli strikes has according to analysis eliminated or harmed a minimum of eleven warships belonging to Iran starting the weekend, freshly analyzed aerial photos reveal, with launch facilities and enrichment plants also coming under fire.
Images of the southern Konarak naval base and the Bandar Abbas port facility, which sits on the strategic Hormuz Strait and houses the main command of the Iran's naval force, depict black smoke pouring from a number of ships on recent days.
Naval Fleet Incurred Substantial Losses
Included in the targets eliminated was the Makran, the country's largest naval vessel which had functioned as a drone carrier. Aerial imagery displayed dark plumes pouring from the vessel which had been stationed at the Bandar Abbas base.
Analytical reports suggest that at least a quintet of warships at Bandar Abbas were "hit or sunk". Pictures of the southern end of the harbor depict smoke rising from the IRINS Makran, while another pair of vessels are visibly harmed, with one visibly ablaze.
At the Konarak base, photos reveal several stricken vessels, with expert review pointing to strikes against six vessels. Photos taken on Monday also indicate that a number of facilities at the installation have been leveled.
"For many years the Iranian regime has harassed commercial vessels," the head of US Central Command stated. "Today, there is not one Iranian vessel underway in the Persian Gulf, Strait of Hormuz or Gulf of Oman, and we will persist."
Some vessels reportedly sunk may have been hidden in satellite images by haze or plumes, or targeted offshore, and have yet to be fully confirmed. Other accounts indicated that one Iranian ship was going down near Sri Lankan waters, resulting in a rescue operation.
Missile Bases and Nuclear Facilities Targeted
The destruction of Iran's rocket sites and the stopping enrichment activities were listed as additional objectives of the air campaign. Satellite images also showed impacts against the southern Khorgu and north-western Tabriz facilities, and at the Konarak base, where weapons bunkers and bunkers were targeted.
Over at the Choqa Balk-e drone base west of the city of Kermanshah, widespread destruction was observed to storage buildings, bunkers and drone launch equipment.
Destruction was also observed at a surveillance station at the Zahedan military airport in eastern parts of the country, near the border with neighboring nations.
Significantly, the latest wave of attacks have apparently targeted installations at Natanz – considered at the heart of the country's atomic program. The UN's atomic energy body said that the damaged structures were used for entry to the facility's below-ground enrichment facility and that "no nuclear fallout" was expected.
Wider Consequences and Assessment
Military analysts suggested that the attacks appeared to have "significantly degraded" the Iran's naval capability to carry out conventional attacks using its biggest warships. But, it was stressed that Tehran maintains the ability to launch unconventional attacks at sea through the use of unmanned aerial vehicles, midget subs and its so-called "ghost fleet" of oil ships.
The full scale of the damage caused to Iranian military infrastructure has yet to be fully assessed, with strikes reportedly persisting. Imagery also indicates extensive destruction to the headquarters of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in the city of Tehran.
Numerous of public facilities also seem to have been struck in the capital city and across Iran since the fighting started. Casualty figures from inside Iran suggest that many hundreds of non-combatants may have been fatally injured in the bombardment.
As the situation develops, monitoring of satellite imagery will carry on to assess the changing military landscape.