Satellite images show damage to Iranian military sites after the Israeli attack

Satellite images suggest that Israel's attack on Iran appears to have damaged a key element of Tehran's ballistic missile production and air defense facilities, potentially leaving it vulnerable to future attacks, military analysts told NBC News.

It remains unclear exactly how many sites were attacked, but analysts said satellite images from Planet Labs suggest Saturday's attacks appeared to target Khojir, a sprawling missile site near Tehran, and Parchin, a huge military base, in part of Iran, would have hit the nuclear program that no longer exists.

Israel's attack appears to have been more limited than some expected.

The rare direct attack – a response to Tehran firing more than 200 ballistic missiles on October 1 – followed intense U.S. diplomacy to contain hostile exchanges between the two powers that have stoked fears of an all-out war.

“We have hit hard on Iran's defense capabilities and its ability to produce missiles aimed at us,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a speech, adding that the attack had achieved all its objectives.

Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said the attack “should neither be downplayed nor exaggerated,” and Tehran's possible response was still the subject of speculation.

Israel appears to have targeted Iran's missile production process rather than its storage facilities – making it more difficult for Tehran to replenish its already dwindling missile stockpile.

It hit buildings where special fuel mixers make fuel for ballistic missiles by mixing different chemicals, said Fabian Hinz, a research fellow in defense and military analysis at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, a London-based think tank. This is an easier and more effective target than missiles themselves.

“It was a very clever attack that targeted all sensitive websites,” Hinz said in an interview.

“The missiles are spread across the country, some of them deep inside Iran and deep underground. Attacking them would be very difficult,” he said. “But if you hit the missile production facilities, you can no longer produce them.”