Israel-Iran conflict: Satellite images reveal widespread damage from Israeli strikes in Iran

The Hindu

4 hours ago

Israel has been attacking several nuclear facilities and military bases across Iran since June 13, 2025. The unprecedented strike has triggered a days-long exchange of missile attacks between the two countries. Tensions have continued to escalate, and the death toll is rising.
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Iran's Natanz nuclear facility, Isfahan Nuclear Technology Centre, Shiraz missile production facility, and Tabriz North missile base were among the targets of Israel's aerial attacks.
At least 585 people, including 239 civilians, have been killed in Iran since hostilities began on Friday (June 13, 2025), according to a Washington-based Iranian human rights group. Meanwhile, 24 people had been killed in Israel as of Monday (June 16, 2025) morning, according to the Israeli Prime Minister's Office.
The Israeli operation against Iran is expected to take 'weeks, not days' and is moving forward with implicit U.S. approval, according to White House and Israeli officials.
Maxar Technologies and Planet Labs PBC have released several images showing severe damage caused to Iran's military bases and nuclear facilities in the Israeli attack.
Natanz nuclear facility
The Natanz nuclear facility, Iran's largest uranium enrichment site, has sustained significant damage in the Israeli strikes on June 13, 2025. Describing the site as 'the heart of Iran's ballistic missile programme,' said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu emphasising its strategic importance.
On June 17, 2025, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reported that there appeared to have been 'direct impacts' on the underground sections of the Natanz site.
'Based on continued analysis of high-resolution satellite imagery collected after Friday's attacks, the IAEA has identified additional elements that indicate direct impacts on the underground enrichment halls at Natanz. No change to report at Esfahan and Fordow,' the agency said in a post on X.
While the full extent of the damage is still being assessed, the IAEA confirmed that one of the above-ground buildings — the Pilot Fuel Enrichment Plant — was destroyed. This facility had been producing uranium enriched up to 60%.
The attack also damaged key electrical infrastructure, including the main power supply, emergency backup systems, and a substation.
'There has been no indication of a physical attack on the underground cascade hall containing part of the Pilot Fuel Enrichment Plant and the main Fuel Enrichment Plant. However, the loss of power to the cascade hall may have damaged the centrifuges there,' the IAEA said in a detailed statement.
Regarding radiation levels outside Natanz, the UN's atomic watchdog said they remain unchanged and at normal levels, indicating no radiological impact on the population or environment. However, it noted that inside the facility, there is both radiological and chemical contamination.
Isfahan Nuclear Technology Center
At the Isfahan nuclear site, built with Chinese assistance and opened in 1984, four buildings were hit, including a uranium conversion plant and a fuel manufacturing facility.
The Isfahan Nuclear Technology Center (INTC) is Iran's largest nuclear research complex and employs approximately 3,000 scientists.
'At the Esfahan nuclear site, four buildings were damaged in Friday's attack: the central chemical laboratory, a uranium conversion plant, the Tehran reactor fuel manufacturing plant, and the UF4 to EU metal processing facility, which was under construction. As in Natanz, off-site radiation levels remain unchanged,' IAEA stated.
Fordow nuclear facility
The Fordow plant, buried deep in the mountains near Qom, south of Tehran, is believed to house over 1,000 centrifuges, including IR-6 machines capable of enriching uranium to 60% purity. Its deeply buried location makes it one of Iran's most fortified nuclear facilities. Satellite images captured on June 14, 2025, after the Israeli strikes show that the facility appears to remain intact.
Piranshahr Garrison
The Piranshahr facility, located near the Iraqi border in western Iran, is reportedly a military installation. Satellite imagery shows a small military structure that appears to have been largely flattened by the strikes.
An earlier image from Maxar Technologies, taken last month, shows the site with vehicles visible for scale.
Tabriz missile base
Satellite imagery released on Monday (June 16, 2025) by Planet Labs shows extensive damage at a missile base north of the Iranian city of Tabriz, capital of Iran's East Azerbaijan province.
The satellite images below, taken on June 3 and June 16, 2025, show the entrance to the underground facility at the Tabriz North missile base before and after it was hit by Israeli airstrikes.
The images reveal destroyed buildings and vehicles, along with large areas of scorched vegetation. The images below, taken on June 3 and June 16, 2025, show the support area of the Tabriz North missile base before and after it was hit by Israeli airstrikes.
The Tabiz base is a key ballistic missile production unit in Iran.
The composite image below, created using satellite photos released by Maxar Technologies, shows a tunnel entrance at the Tabriz missile facility in Tabriz, Iran — first on May 29, 2025 (top), and then on June 17, 2025, after it was struck by Israeli airstrikes.
The image below shows another tunnel entrance at the Tabriz missile facility.
Kermanshah missile facility
At a missile base operated by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) near the western province of Kermanshah, satellite images reveal extensive damage caused by Israeli airstrikes. High-resolution imagery taken on June 15, 2025, shows multiple buildings at the facility targeted, and several structures destroyed.
Notably, damage is also visible at two tunnel entrances built into the mountainside, which are likely used to store or conceal sensitive missile-related equipment.
IRGC Ghadir site in Tehran
The images below show the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Ghadir site in Tehran before (May 1, 2025) and after (June 14, 2025) it was hit by Israeli airstrikes.
Bid Kaneh military facility
The Bid Kaneh military base, located about 30 km west of Tehran, has reportedly sustained damage to multiple buildings.
This is not the first time the facility has suffered serious damage. In 2011, a large explosion reportedly killed several personnel believed to have been working on Iran's missile program.
Dezful airbase
Dezful Airbase, also known as Vahdati Airbase, is located on Andimeshk Road in the city of Dezful, in Iran's Khuzestan province.
The base is historically significant as the home of the Fourth Fighter Base, which played a crucial role during the Iran-Iraq War in the 1980s.
Sources: Maxar Technologies, Planet Labs PBC, Reuters, AP, IAEA, ISW, IDF, Nuclear Threat Initiative, SkyBrary.aero, and Tehran Times