Dubai: Recently-released satellite images offer the first clear views of destruction caused by the Iran war and retaliatory strikes, including burning ships in an Iranian port and wrecked structures at American facilities across West Asia.
Details on the toll since fighting erupted on February 28 have been limited, especially from secured military zones. The images, supplied by San Francisco-based Planet Labs PBC — a provider relied on by media including the Associated Press — carry a two-week public delay to prevent use by “adversarial actors.”
Rival companies have shared high-resolution shots, while the US Geological Survey offers lower-resolution but valuable imagery, The Economic Times reported.
The United States and Israel have hammered diverse Iranian targets – top leadership including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, military bases, missile and air defence systems, Revolutionary Guard and Basij positions. Iran has fired back with drones and missiles at Israel and Gulf states.
Planet Labs’ starkest shots depict Bandar Abbas, Iran’s key military port by the Strait of Hormuz, which is a vital link from Persian Gulf to Gulf of Oman and Arabian Sea.
March 2 photos capture ships engulfed in flames. The US military’s Central Command, targeting naval assets, “has sank or damaged more than 100 Iranian vessels so far in the war.”
On March 6, Planet Labs imagery exposed hits at Tehran’s nearby Parchin military base. Israel’s military described its strikes as targeting “infrastructure used for the production of essential components for the development of various weapons.”
In Bahrain, hub of the US Navy’s 5th Fleet, Iranian barrages have pounded bases and oil sites. A March 1 image shows a primary building razed, plus two dome-covered radar antennas possibly felled by missiles and drones. A March 6 follow-up showed further building harm.
The Navy has provided no detailed damage tally, though Iran has boasted repeated strikes. Online videos depict incoming fire.
In the 12-day clash last June, Iran similarly demolished a Qatar radome at Al Udeid Air Base for secure communications.
Iranian fire also scarred Qatar’s Al Udeid, forward US Central Command post directing the war. Planet Labs’ March 1 shot flags building damage. Qatar and the US offered no comment.
A March 15 Iranian hit damaged Saudi Arabia’s Prince Sultan Air Base.
Airbus Defense and Space Pléiades Neo imagery from March 15, vetted by AP, exposed damage at UAE’s Abu Dhabi Al Dhafra Air Base — northwest hangars were struck, a southeast hangar gutted by fire, neighbour with roof damage.
Al Dhafra houses about 2,000 US personnel, launching drones and F-35s. The US long downplayed it as a “southwest Asia” outpost until UAE openness.
In Abu Dhabi, large hangars at France’s Camp de la Paix naval base near Zayed Port — and Louvre Abu Dhabi — suffered damage on March 3, as per satellite shots.
USGS Landsat images from Monday pinpointed fires — one at Dubai International Airport from an Iranian drone-ignited fuel tanker, spewing black smoke; another at Oman’s Salalah port, hit on March 11 by presumed Iranian drones, which Tehran has denied.
