Satellite images show damage from Iran-U.S. war at bases across region

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Satellite images released over the past days are offering some of the clearest public evidence yet of damage attributed to the Iran-U.S. war, which began Feb. 28, as media outlets and analysts increasingly turn to space-based views of heavily restricted military sites. The Associated Press reported that the imagery comes from Planet Labs and other providers, but that information has been scarce—particularly inside closed military facilities—since the conflict began.

Planet Labs, a San Francisco-based company used by media outlets including the AP, has put a two-week delay on when its imagery becomes public. The company said the delay reflects concerns that its data could be used by “adversarial actors,” according to the AP. Competing satellite providers have published higher-resolution images, while lower-resolution imagery from the U.S. Geological Survey has also been used by analysts.

The AP said that the United States and Israel have carried out strikes on a broad range of targets, including Iranian leadership figures, military bases, missile and air defense sites, and positions associated with Iran’s Revolutionary Guard and its volunteer force, the Basij. Iran, in turn, has responded with drone and missile fire targeting Israel and nearby Gulf Arab nations, according to the AP report.

Some of the most dramatic images in the AP report were from Bandar Abbas, Iran, a major Iranian military port adjacent to the Strait of Hormuz. The AP said Planet Labs images taken March 2 show ships ablaze at the port. The AP also reported that U.S. Central Command has said it has targeted Iran’s naval assets and that it has “sank or damaged more than 100 Iranian vessels so far in the war.”

The AP also described Planet Labs images showing damage at Iran’s Parchin military base outside Tehran. It said images from March 6 show damage to several buildings. The report linked Parchin to the past testing of high explosives that the International Atomic Energy Agency has said could be relevant to a nuclear weapon, and noted that Iran has long insisted its nuclear program is peaceful while other agencies have said Tehran had an active weapons program until 2003. Israel’s military said its strikes hit “infrastructure used for the production of essential components for the development of various weapons,” the AP reported.

In the Gulf, the AP said Bahrain—home to the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet—has seen heavy Iranian fire targeting military bases and oil installations. It cited a March 1 Planet Labs image showing a major building at the base destroyed, along with two radomes described as geodesic domes covering radar antennas, likely hit by missile and drone fire. A later March 6 Planet Labs photo showed another building damaged, the AP said, adding that the Navy had not provided a detailed breakdown of damage. Iran has repeatedly claimed attacks on the base, the AP reported, and it referenced prior imagery of a radome destroyed at Qatar’s Al Udeid air base during a June war.

The AP reported that Planet Labs also showed damage at Qatar’s Al Udeid Air Base, a massive facility described as the forward headquarters of the U.S. military’s Central Command. A March 1 photo, the AP said, shows damage to a building at the base. It said Qatar and the U.S. have not acknowledged the damage. The AP also cited damage at Saudi Arabia’s Prince Sultan Air Base, saying a March 15 photo showed damage there.

In the United Arab Emirates, the AP reported damage at Abu Dhabi’s Al Dhafra Air Base based on satellite images taken March 15 by an Airbus Defense and Space Pléiades Neo satellite and analyzed by the AP. It said the imagery shows damage at one set of hangars northwest of the facility, and that another hangar southeast appears shredded by fire, with adjacent hangars showing roof damage. The AP said it is unclear what was inside the hangars. It added that Al Dhafra typically hosts about 2,000 American troops and has served as a major base for operations ranging from armed drones to F-35 stealth fighters, while the U.S. had previously referred to the base as part of “southwest Asia” before the UAE became more willing to acknowledge the American presence.

The AP also cited imagery of damage in Abu Dhabi at France’s Camp de la Paix naval base. It said Planet Labs images from March 3 show damage to two large hangarlike buildings at the facility near Zayed Port and close to Abu Dhabi’s Cultural District, which includes the Louvre Abu Dhabi and other museums open or under construction.

Beyond direct damage, the AP said imagery from the U.S. Geological Survey’s Landsat satellites has helped track fires. It reported that Landsat imagery taken Monday showed a fire at Dubai International Airport after an Iranian drone strike set a fuel tanker ablaze, producing a plume of “noxious black smoke.” The AP also said Landsat imagery showed another fire on Monday at Oman’s southern port in Salalah, linked to a reported attack from suspected Iranian drones on March 11, while adding that Tehran has denied launching drones in its campaign targeting Gulf Arab states.