A series of US and Israeli airstrikes has according to analysis eliminated or harmed no fewer than eleven Iranian naval vessels starting the weekend, new aerial photos show, with missile bases and atomic facilities also sustaining hits.
Photographs of the southern Konarak naval naval base and the Bandar Abbas installation, which sits on the strategic Hormuz Strait and houses the main command of the Iran's naval force, reveal plumes of smoke rising from a number of warships on the start of the week.
Among the targets eliminated was the Makran, Iran's largest naval vessel which had been used as a drone carrier. Aerial imagery displayed black smoke pouring from the vessel which had been docked at the Bandar Abbas naval base.
Intelligence assessments indicate that no fewer than five ships at the port were "damaged or eliminated". Pictures of the south end of the port depict smoke emanating from the Makran, while two other ships seem to be damaged, with a single one clearly on fire.
At Konarak, photos display numerous damaged ships, with analysis pointing to damage to six vessels. Pictures from Monday also indicate that multiple structures at the installation have been destroyed.
"For many years the Tehran government has harassed international shipping," the head of US Central Command declared. "Now, there is no vessel from Iran underway in the Persian Gulf, Strait of Hormuz or Gulf of Oman, and we will persist."
A number of vessels allegedly sunk may have been hidden in satellite images by cloud or smoke, or targeted offshore, and have not been conclusively proven. Additional information indicated that one Iranian ship was sinking off the coast of Sri Lanka's waters, resulting in a rescue operation.
Eliminating Iranian missile bases and the prevention of nuclear weapons development were declared as other objectives of the air campaign. Satellite images also revealed impacts against the southern Khorgu base and north-western Tabriz missile facilities, and at the Konarak air base, where weapons bunkers and fortifications were targeted.
At the Choqa Balk-e unmanned aircraft site west of Kermanshah, significant destruction was seen to sheds, bunkers and drone launch equipment.
Damage was also observed at a radar installation at the Zahedan airbase military airport in eastern Iran, near the border with neighboring nations.
Perhaps most notably, the new round of attacks have reportedly targeted sites at Natanz – long said to be at the core of the country's nuclear programme. The UN's atomic energy body said that the affected buildings were used for access to the facility's below-ground nuclear plant and that "no release of radioactive material" was expected.
Military analysts indicated that the attacks appeared to have "greatly reduced" the Iran's naval ability to sustain standard operations using its largest vessels. However, it was emphasised that Iran retains the option to launch asymmetric warfare at sea through the use of drones, mini-submarines and its so-called "ghost fleet" of tankers.
The total scope of the destruction caused to Iranian military infrastructure remains unclear, with strikes reportedly persisting. Imagery also indicates considerable damage to the command center of the the IRGC in the city of Tehran.
Numerous of public facilities also are reported to have been struck in the capital and across Iran after the hostilities started. Toll estimates from local officials suggest that many hundreds of non-combatants may have been lost their lives in the strikes.
Amid continuing hostilities, review of satellite imagery will continue to track the evolving battlefield picture.
