Satellite images reveal Iran war damage

Satellite images are beginning to be released, giving a glimpse into the toll of the Iran war, with ships ablaze in an Iranian port and destroyed buildings at an American base.

Information has so far been scarce about the damage being done across the Middle East, particularly when it’s inside closed military facilities, since the war started on February 28.

The images come from Planet Labs PBC, a San Francisco-based firm used by media outlets, including The Associated Press.

Planet Labs has put a two-week delay on its imagery becoming public, citing concerns its imagery could be used by “adversarial actors”.

High-resolution images also have been published by competing firms. Other providers, like the US Geological Survey, have been publishing lower-resolution imagery as well, that’s been useful. The US and Israel have been striking a wide variety of targets, including leadership figures in Iran, military bases, missile and air defence sites and positions of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard and its volunteer force, the Basij. Iran has responded with drone and missile fire targeting Israel and nearby Gulf Arab nations.

Burning ships in Bandar Abbas, Iran

Some of the most dramatic images from Planet Labs so far have been in Bandar Abbas, home to a major Iranian military port next to the crucial Strait of Hormuz connecting the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea.

Images taken on March 2 show ships ablaze at the port. The US military’s Central Command has been targeting Iran’s naval assets and says it has sank or damaged more than 100 Iranian vessels so far in the war.

Israeli airstrike hits Parchin military base

Planet Labs’ images from March 6 show damage to several buildings at the Parchin military base outside Tehran, Iran’s capital.

The International Atomic Energy Agency suspects Iran in the past conducted tests of high explosives that could trigger a nuclear weapon. Iran long has insisted its nuclear programme is peaceful, though the IAEA, Western intelligence agencies and others say Tehran had an active weapons programme up until 2003.

Israel’s military said its Parchin strikes hit “infrastructure used for the production of essential components for the development of various weapons”. The site has been linked to Iran’s ballistic missile programme as well.

Major impact at 5th Fleet headquarters

The island kingdom of Bahrain, home of the US Navy’s 5th Fleet, has seen heavy Iranian fire targeting both military bases and oil installations.

A March 1 image by Planet Labs shows a major building at the base destroyed, as well as two radomes -- geodesic domes covering radar antennas -- likely by Iranian missile and drone fire. A later, March 6 Planet Labs photo showed another building damaged.

The Navy has not offered a clear breakdown in the damage done so far at the base, but Iran has repeatedly claimed to have attacked it. Online videos have also shown incoming fire targeting the base. During the 12-day war in June, Iran attacked and destroyed a similar radome at Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, used for secure communications.

Satellite images show damage to UAE air base

Satellite images, taken March 15 by an Airbus Defense and Space Pleiades Neo satellite and analysed by the AP, show damage at Abu Dhabi’s Al Dhafra Air Base.

Damage can be seen at one set of hangars to the northwest of the facility. Another hangar to the southeast of the facility appears shredded by fire, with an adjacent hangar sustaining roof damage. It’s unclear what was in the hangars.

Al Dhafra typically hosts some 2,000 American troops and has served as a major base of operations for everything from armed drones to F-35 stealth fighters in recent years.

French naval base hit in Abu Dhabi

In Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, there’s damage seen at France’s Camp de la Paix naval base. Satellite images from March 3 show damage to two large hangar-like buildings at the facility. The base is near Zayed Port.

Fires seen burning

The US Geological Survey’s Landsat satellites also have been key in spotting major fires. Imagery from Landsat taken on Monday showed a fire at Dubai International Airport after an Iranian drone strike set a fuel tanker ablaze at the world’s busiest airport for international travel, causing a plume of noxious black smoke.