I have just reviewed some highly revealing satellite images circulating about what is happening in the Middle East. Planet Labs and other companies have begun releasing high-resolution photographs showing the true extent of the attacks in the region, something that until recently was difficult to verify visually.

What’s interesting is that these images, captured with a delay of approximately two weeks, reveal concrete damage to key facilities in the Persian Gulf. The port of Bandar Abbas, one of Iran’s main military enclaves, appears in photos from March 2nd with several ships engulfed in flames. The U.S. Central Command claims to have sunk or damaged more than 100 Iranian vessels since the conflict began on February 28th.

But what’s most striking is that the attacks weren’t limited to naval targets. In Bahrain, the U.S. Fifth Fleet base shows a main building completely destroyed and two radomes damaged according to records from March 1st. Social media videos show direct hits on the military complex, although the U.S. military has not provided full details on the total extent of the damages.

What’s curious is that the conflict extended beyond what many expected. France also suffered damage to its military facilities in Abu Dhabi on March 3rd, with two large hangars affected at the Camp de la Paix base. Even Dubai International Airport, considered the busiest in the world, recorded a fire caused by a drone impact on a tanker truck on March 11th.

What these satellite images demonstrate is that access to visual information about conflicts of this magnitude has changed. It’s no longer possible to keep damages completely under wraps when multiple satellites are documenting everything in near real-time. Companies like Planet Labs are enabling analysts, international media, and observers to independently verify what is truly happening on the ground, beyond official statements from any of the involved parties.