Satellite images provide view inside Iran at war : NPR

Exclusive commercial satellite imagery reveals the widespread damage inflicted upon Iranian military installations nationwide.

The combined U.S. and Israeli military offensive began with a daylight assault on Iran’s central Tehran leadership. Smoke continued to emanate from Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s compound after the strike, which resulted in the supreme leader’s death.

Subsequently, Israel and the U.S. broadened their strikes to encompass targets throughout Iran. Social media reports suggest a multitude of Iranian military bases and sites have been hit, prompting retaliatory attacks from Iran across the Middle East.

Iranian naval assets have also been targeted by U.S. forces. President Trump stated in a social media update that he was informed U.S. forces had destroyed nine Iranian warships. While U.S. Central Command did not immediately verify this exact figure, it did confirm hitting an Iranian warship while it was in port.

Multiple satellite images depict vessels ablaze at the Konarak naval base in southern Iran. Furthermore, photographs reveal damage to an adjacent airbase, where precision munitions successfully targeted hardened aircraft shelters.

Significant destruction was also observed at a drone facility within the same vicinity. Iran has retaliated by deploying numerous drones and missiles towards Israel and U.S. military sites in Bahrain, Kuwait, and Qatar. Although many drones were intercepted, social media footage indicates some bypassed air defenses, causing damage in neighboring Gulf nations. Dubai’s government reported that debris from an Iranian drone struck the renowned Burj Al Arab.

Iran’s most formidable armaments are its long-range missiles, which the Iranian Revolutionary Guards have concealed within deep mountain tunnels. Sunday’s images from northern Iran’s mountains suggest that several of these underground missile sites were impacted during the recent barrage of strikes.

After Khamenei’s demise, Iran announced a 40-day period of mourning. Satellite imagery captured on Sunday showed large crowds of mourners convening in Tehran’s Enghelab Square.

On Sunday, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Esmail Baghaei informed NPR that Iran remains committed to combating “foreign aggression, foreign domination.”

An official from the White House conveyed to NPR that President Trump intends to engage with Iran’s temporary leadership “at some point,” but emphasized that current U.S. operations in the region are proceeding “uninterrupted.”