Aerial Photographs Depict Iran's Navy and Nuclear Sites Targeted by US-Israeli Strikes.
A series of American and Israeli strikes has reportedly destroyed or damaged no fewer than 11 warships belonging to Iran since Saturday, new orbital imagery demonstrate, with launch facilities and atomic facilities also being targeted.
Images of the southern Konarak military port and the Bandar Abbas port facility, which sits on the strategic Hormuz Strait and contains the main command of the Iran's naval force, depict smoke billowing from several warships on Monday and Tuesday.
Naval Fleet Sustained Significant Losses
Included in the targets eliminated was the Makran, Iran's biggest warship which had been used as a unmanned aerial vehicle platform. Satellite images indicated thick smoke emanating from the ship which had been docked at the Bandar Abbas base.
Intelligence reports state that no fewer than five vessels at Bandar Abbas were "hit or sunk". Pictures of the southern end of the port depict smoke emanating from the Makran, while additional ships appear to be harmed, with one of them clearly on fire.
At Konarak, images display several damaged vessels, with expert review identifying strikes against six ships. Images taken on Monday also show that a number of buildings at the installation have been demolished.
"For many years the Tehran government has disrupted global maritime traffic," an American commander declared. "At present, there is no vessel from Iran operational in the Arabian Gulf, Strait of Hormuz or Sea of Oman, and we will not stop."
A number of ships allegedly sunk may have been hidden in aerial photos by cloud or smoke, or targeted offshore, and have not been independently verified. Other accounts stated that one Iranian ship was sinking near Sri Lanka's territorial waters, leading to a rescue operation.
Missile Installations and Atomic Facilities Hit
The destruction of Tehran's launch facilities and the stopping nuclear weapons development were stated as further objectives of the air campaign. Aerial imagery also depicted damage at the southerly Khorgu base and north-western Tabriz facilities, and at the Konarak air base, where missile storage facilities and fortifications were struck.
Over at the Choqa Balk-e unmanned aircraft site west of Kermanshah, widespread damage was observed to sheds, underground facilities and drone launch equipment.
Impact was also observed at a surveillance station at the Zahedan airbase airbase in eastern Iran, near the frontier with neighboring nations.
Perhaps most notably, the most recent series of strikes have apparently focused on facilities at the Natanz complex – long said to be at the center of the country's nuclear programme. A global monitoring agency said that the affected structures were used for access to the facility's underground enrichment facility and that "no release of radioactive material" was expected.
Broader Fallout and Assessment
Defense experts indicated that the strikes appeared to have "greatly reduced" the Iranian navy's capability to sustain traditional warfare using its most significant warships. But, it was stressed that Iran retains the capacity to launch irregular strikes at sea through the use of drones, mini-submarines and its so-called "clandestine network" of oil ships.
The full scale of the damage caused to Iran's defense facilities is still uncertain, with attacks reportedly continuing. Pictures also indicates extensive destruction to the headquarters of the the IRGC in the capital Tehran.
Numerous of public facilities also are reported to have been hit in the capital city and across the country after the conflict escalated. Casualty figures from inside Iran state that a high number of civilians may have been fatally injured in the strikes.
As the situation develops, review of aerial photographs will continue to assess the evolving battlefield picture.