🔗 Share this article

Multiple joint attacks has allegedly sunk or crippled a minimum of eleven Iranian naval vessels since Saturday, freshly analyzed aerial photos reveal, with rocket sites and atomic facilities also being targeted.

Photographs of the southern Konarak naval military port and the Bandar Abbas port installation, which is located on the strategic Hormuz Strait and contains the main command of the Iranian navy, depict black smoke pouring from several vessels on the start of the week.

Naval Assets Sustained Significant Damage

Included in the vessels destroyed was the IRINS Makran, Iran's most sizable ship which had been used as a drone carrier. Orbital photos displayed thick smoke rising from the ship which had been moored at the Bandar Abbas naval base.

Analytical reports indicate that no fewer than a quintet of warships at Bandar Abbas were "struck or destroyed". Photos of the south end of the port show smoke rising from the Makran, while additional ships seem to be impacted, with a single one seen burning.

Over at the Konarak base, images display numerous damaged vessels, with analysis pointing to strikes against a half-dozen warships. Pictures taken on the start of the week also indicate that several buildings at the base have been destroyed.

"For many years the Tehran government has threatened international shipping," the head of US Central Command stated. "Now, there is not one Iranian vessel operational in the Persian Gulf, Strait of Hormuz or Gulf of Oman, and we will persist."

A number of vessels allegedly sunk may have been obscured in satellite images by weather conditions or battle damage, or struck at sea, and have not been independently verified. Additional information stated that one Iranian ship was going down near Sri Lanka's territorial waters, prompting a rescue operation.

Missile Installations and Nuclear Facilities Attacked

Eliminating Iran's rocket sites and the hindering of nuclear weapons development were stated as other goals of the offensive. Satellite images also showed strikes on the southerly Khorgu and northwestern Tabriz missile facilities, and at the Konarak air base, where missile storage facilities and fortifications were hit.

At the Choqa Balk-e drone base to the west of Kermanshah, widespread destruction was identified to storage buildings, underground facilities and drone launch equipment.

Impact was also noted at a surveillance station at the Zahedan airbase military airport in eastern parts of the country, close to the border with neighboring nations.

Of particular note, the most recent series of attacks have reportedly hit facilities at Natanz – considered at the heart of Iran's enrichment efforts. The UN's atomic energy body said that the damaged buildings were used for access to the facility's underground enrichment facility and that "no radiological consequence" was expected.

Broader Impact and Analysis

Military analysts suggested that the strikes appeared to have "greatly reduced" the Iran's naval capacity to sustain standard operations using its most significant vessels. But, it was noted that Iran maintains the capacity to launch irregular strikes at sea through the use of drones, small submarines and its so-called "shadow fleet" of oil ships.

The total scale of the destruction caused to Iran's defense infrastructure remains unclear, with strikes reportedly ongoing. Pictures also shows extensive destruction to the command center of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in the capital Tehran.

A large number of civilian buildings also appear to have been hit in the capital city and across the country after the conflict escalated. Reports of deaths from inside Iran indicate that many hundreds of civilians may have been fatally injured in the bombardment.

Amid continuing hostilities, monitoring of space-based data will continue to document the evolving scope of damage.