🔗 Share this article

A wave of US and Israeli airstrikes has allegedly sunk or crippled at least 11 Iranian naval vessels starting Saturday, freshly analyzed aerial photos reveal, with missile bases and enrichment plants also sustaining hits.

Images of the southern Konarak naval base and the Bandar Abbas port facility, which sits on the Strait of Hormuz and houses the main command of the Iran's naval force, show plumes of smoke rising from multiple warships on Monday and Tuesday.

Maritime Assets Sustained Substantial Damage

Among the vessels destroyed was the Makran, the country's most sizable ship which had functioned as a drone carrier. Satellite images showed thick smoke rising from the vessel which had been moored at the Bandar Abbas base.

Intelligence reports suggest that no fewer than a quintet of warships at Bandar Abbas were "struck or destroyed". Photos of the southern end of the harbor show smoke emanating from the Makran, while additional ships are visibly harmed, with a single one seen burning.

At Konarak, images show numerous harmed ships, with analysis pointing to damage to six ships. Images from Monday also demonstrate that a number of facilities at the base have been leveled.

"For decades the Iranian regime has disrupted global maritime traffic," the head of US Central Command declared. "At present, there is no Iranian ship operational in the Arabian Gulf, Hormuz Strait or Gulf of Oman, and we will persist."

Some ships reportedly sunk may have been obscured in aerial photos by weather conditions or battle damage, or targeted offshore, and have yet to be fully confirmed. Other accounts stated that one Iranian ship was sinking near Sri Lanka's waters, prompting a search and rescue mission.

Missile Installations and Nuclear Facilities Targeted

Eliminating Tehran's launch facilities and the stopping nuclear weapons development were stated as further objectives of the offensive. Satellite images also showed impacts against the southerly Khorgu and northwestern Tabriz missile bases, and at the Konarak base, where missile storage facilities and fortifications were hit.

Over at the Choqa Balk-e drone unmanned aircraft site to the west of Kermanshah, extensive damage was observed to storage buildings, underground facilities and unmanned aircraft systems.

Impact was also observed at a radar site at the Zahedan airbase in eastern parts of the country, close to the border with neighboring nations.

Significantly, the new round of strikes have reportedly targeted sites at the Natanz complex – widely believed to be at the heart of Iran's atomic program. An international watchdog said that the damaged structures were used for access to the site's underground nuclear plant and that "no radiological consequence" was likely.

Wider Fallout and Analysis

Military analysts stated that the attacks appeared to have "largely neutralized" the Iran's naval capacity to sustain standard operations using its biggest vessels. But, it was stressed that Iran retains the option to launch unconventional attacks at sea through the use of drones, midget subs and its so-called "clandestine network" of tankers.

The full scale of the destruction caused to Iranian military infrastructure remains unclear, with hostilities said to be persisting. Photos also shows considerable damage to the main offices of the Iran's Revolutionary Guards in the capital Tehran.

A significant number of public facilities also are reported to have been struck in the capital city and across the country after the fighting started. Reports of deaths from local officials state that a high number of civilians may have been killed in the strikes.

As the situation develops, analysis of space-based data will carry on to assess the evolving military landscape.