Aerial Imagery Indicate Iran's Navy and Atomic Locations Targeted by Joint US and Israeli Military Action.
A wave of American and Israeli airstrikes has according to analysis destroyed or damaged a minimum of 11 Iran's navy ships starting Saturday, recently obtained orbital imagery reveal, with missile bases and atomic facilities also sustaining hits.
Pictures of the southerly Konarak naval military port and the Bandar Abbas port facility, which overlooks the Strait of Hormuz and is home to the headquarters of the Iran's naval force, show black smoke pouring from several ships on the start of the week.
Naval Forces Sustained Significant Damage
Included in the targets eliminated was the Makran, the country's biggest warship which had functioned as a drone carrier. Aerial imagery indicated dark plumes pouring from the ship which had been stationed at the Bandar Abbas base.
Intelligence evaluations state that no fewer than a quintet of warships at Bandar Abbas were "hit or sunk". Photos of the south end of the harbor reveal smoke rising from the Makran, while another pair of vessels are visibly harmed, with one seen burning.
At Konarak, photos display several harmed vessels, with analysis pointing to strikes against six vessels. Photos taken on Monday also show that several buildings at the base have been destroyed.
"For a long time the Tehran government has disrupted international shipping," a senior US military official said. "Today, there is not a single vessel from Iran underway in the Arabian Gulf, Strait of Hormuz or Gulf of Oman, and we will persist."
A number of vessels reportedly sunk may have been hidden in aerial photos by haze or plumes, or struck at sea, and have not been conclusively proven. Other accounts suggested that an Iranian vessel was foundering near Sri Lanka's territorial waters, leading to a rescue operation.
Missile Installations and Nuclear Locations Attacked
Neutralizing Iranian missile bases and the prevention of nuclear weapons development were listed as further goals of the military strikes. Satellite images also revealed impacts against the southerly Khorgu base and northwestern Tabriz missile missile bases, and at the Konarak air 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 damage was observed to sheds, underground facilities and UAV launching apparatus.
Destruction was also seen at a surveillance station at the Zahedan airbase in eastern Iran, close to the frontier with Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Perhaps most notably, the most recent series of attacks have reportedly focused on installations at Natanz – long said to be at the heart of the country's atomic program. A global monitoring agency said that the affected buildings were used for entry to the facility's below-ground nuclear plant and that "no radiological consequence" was expected.
Wider Fallout and Assessment
Military analysts indicated that the offensive appeared to have "significantly degraded" the Iranian navy's capability to carry out standard operations using its biggest warships. But, it was noted that Iran retains the capacity to launch unconventional attacks at sea through the use of drones, midget subs and its so-called "shadow fleet" of oil ships.
The total extent of the destruction caused to Iran's defense facilities has yet to be fully assessed, with strikes said to be persisting. Imagery also shows considerable damage to the command center of the the IRGC in the city of Tehran.
Numerous of public facilities also seem to have been damaged in the capital and across the country after the fighting escalated. Reports of deaths from ground sources indicate that hundreds of civilians may have been lost their lives in the attacks.
Amid continuing hostilities, monitoring of satellite imagery will carry on to track the changing battlefield picture.