🔗 Share this article

Multiple American and Israeli airstrikes has according to analysis eliminated or harmed a minimum of 11 Iranian naval vessels since Saturday, recently obtained satellite images show, with launch facilities and nuclear sites also coming under fire.

Photographs of the southern Konarak military port and the Bandar Abbas port facility, which is located on the strategic Hormuz Strait and contains the headquarters of the Iranian navy, depict smoke billowing from multiple ships on recent days.

Naval Forces Sustained Major Losses

Included in the ships sunk was the Makran, Iran's most sizable ship which had been used as a unmanned aerial vehicle platform. Aerial imagery indicated dark plumes pouring from the ship which had been docked at the Bandar Abbas naval base.

Intelligence assessments state that no fewer than five vessels at the port were "hit or sunk". Pictures of the southern part of the harbor reveal plumes ascending from the IRINS Makran, while additional ships appear to be harmed, with one seen burning.

Over at Konarak, images show several stricken ships, with intelligence reports pointing to impacts on six ships. Photos from the start of the week also demonstrate that a number of structures at the base have been destroyed.

"For decades the Iranian regime has threatened commercial vessels," the head of US Central Command said. "At present, there is not a single vessel from Iran underway in the Persian Gulf, Hormuz Strait or Sea of Oman, and we will not stop."

A number of ships allegedly sunk may have been hidden in satellite images by haze or plumes, or struck at sea, and have yet to be fully confirmed. Separate reports stated that one Iranian ship was foundering near Sri Lanka's waters, leading to a search and rescue mission.

Missile Sites and Nuclear Locations Hit

Neutralizing Tehran's launch facilities and the prevention of enrichment activities were stated as other objectives of the air campaign. Aerial imagery also showed damage at the southern Khorgu base and northwestern Tabriz facilities, and at the Konarak air base, where rocket warehouses and bunkers were hit.

Over at the Choqa Balk-e drone drone base to the west of Kermanshah, extensive destruction was seen to sheds, underground facilities and unmanned aircraft systems.

Impact was also seen at a radar site at the Zahedan military airport in eastern Iran, close to the frontier with Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Perhaps most notably, the new round of attacks have reportedly hit facilities at Natanz – widely believed to be at the center of Iran's atomic program. The UN's atomic energy body commented that the affected buildings were used for access to the site's underground enrichment facility and that "no nuclear fallout" was anticipated.

Broader Consequences and Assessment

Defense experts stated that the attacks appeared to have "significantly degraded" the Iranian navy's capability to sustain traditional warfare using its largest warships. Nevertheless, it was stressed that Tehran maintains the option to launch irregular strikes at sea through the use of unmanned aerial vehicles, midget subs and its so-called "shadow fleet" of oil ships.

The full scope of the destruction caused to Iran's defense facilities is still uncertain, with hostilities reportedly ongoing. Pictures also reveals considerable damage to the headquarters of the Iran's Revolutionary Guards in the city of Tehran.

A large number of non-military structures also are reported to have been damaged in the capital city and throughout the country after the conflict escalated. Reports of deaths from ground sources state that hundreds of non-combatants may have been killed in the attacks.

As the situation develops, analysis of satellite imagery will continue to track the evolving scope of damage.