🔗 Share this article

Multiple US and Israeli airstrikes has allegedly sunk or crippled no fewer than 11 Iran's navy ships starting the weekend, freshly analyzed satellite images demonstrate, with rocket sites and atomic facilities also being targeted.

Images of the southern Konarak military port and the Bandar Abbas port facility, which is located on the Strait of Hormuz and houses the headquarters of the Iran's naval force, depict smoke billowing from several ships on the start of the week.

Naval Assets Sustained Substantial Damage

Among the vessels destroyed was the IRINS Makran, the country's largest naval vessel which had served as a unmanned aerial vehicle platform. Aerial imagery displayed dark plumes rising from the vessel which had been moored at the Bandar Abbas naval base.

Intelligence evaluations state that no fewer than a quintet of warships at Bandar Abbas were "damaged or eliminated". Photos of the southern end of the harbor show plumes ascending from the Makran, while another pair of vessels seem to be damaged, with a single one seen burning.

At Konarak, images reveal several damaged vessels, with intelligence reports pointing to strikes against six ships. Images taken on the start of the week also demonstrate that several structures at the base have been demolished.

"For decades the Tehran government has threatened global maritime traffic," a senior US military official declared. "Today, there is no Iranian vessel underway in the Arabian Gulf, Strait of Hormuz or Gulf of Oman, and we will not stop."

A number of ships reportedly sunk may have been hidden in aerial photos by haze or plumes, or targeted offshore, and have not been conclusively proven. Additional information indicated that an Iranian vessel was going down off the coast of Sri Lanka's territorial waters, prompting a rescue operation.

Rocket Sites and Atomic Facilities Attacked

Neutralizing Iran's rocket sites and the prevention of atomic bomb programs were stated as other goals of the offensive. Satellite images also depicted damage at the southern Khorgu and north-western Tabriz missile facilities, and at the Konarak air base, where missile storage facilities and fortifications were struck.

At the Choqa Balk-e drone drone base west of the city of Kermanshah, widespread damage was identified to warehouses, underground facilities and UAV launching apparatus.

Destruction was also noted at a surveillance station at the Zahedan airbase military airport in eastern Iran, close to the frontier with Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Significantly, the latest wave of strikes have apparently focused on installations at the Natanz complex – long said to be at the core of Iran's atomic program. The UN's atomic energy body stated that the damaged buildings were used for entry to the facility's underground nuclear plant and that "no radiological consequence" was expected.

Broader Impact and Analysis

Military analysts suggested that the attacks appeared to have "greatly reduced" the Iran's naval capability to conduct traditional warfare using its most significant warships. Nevertheless, it was emphasised that Iran retains the option to launch unconventional attacks at sea through the use of unmanned aerial vehicles, small submarines and its so-called "clandestine network" of oil ships.

The full scale of the damage caused to Iranian military infrastructure is still uncertain, with attacks said to be continuing. Photos also reveals extensive damage to the command center of the the IRGC in the capital Tehran.

A significant number of public facilities also appear to have been damaged in the capital and across Iran since the fighting escalated. Casualty figures from local officials suggest that hundreds of non-combatants may have been killed in the bombardment.

As the situation develops, analysis of space-based data will persist to document the evolving battlefield picture.