🔗 Share this article

A series of joint airstrikes has reportedly sunk or crippled no fewer than eleven Iranian naval vessels starting the weekend, new satellite images show, with rocket sites and atomic facilities also coming under fire.

Images of the southerly Konarak military port and the Bandar Abbas installation, which overlooks the Strait of Hormuz and contains the headquarters of the Iran's naval force, show smoke billowing from a number of vessels on Monday and Tuesday.

Maritime Fleet Sustained Major Losses

Included in the ships sunk was the Makran, Iran's biggest warship which had been used as a unmanned aerial vehicle platform. Aerial imagery displayed black smoke emanating from the vessel which had been stationed at the Bandar Abbas naval base.

Intelligence evaluations indicate that no fewer than five ships at Bandar Abbas were "hit or sunk". Photos of the southern part of the harbor show smoke rising from the IRINS Makran, while another pair of vessels are visibly impacted, with one clearly on fire.

Over at Konarak, photos show several stricken ships, with intelligence reports identifying strikes against six ships. Images taken on Monday also demonstrate that a number of structures at the base have been destroyed.

"For many years the Iranian regime has disrupted commercial vessels," an American commander stated. "Now, there is no Iranian vessel at sea in the Arabian Gulf, Hormuz Strait or Gulf of Oman, and we will continue."

A number of ships allegedly sunk may have been concealed in satellite images by haze or plumes, or targeted offshore, and have not been independently verified. Other accounts indicated that one Iranian ship was sinking off the coast of Sri Lankan waters, prompting a rescue operation.

Missile Bases and Nuclear Facilities Attacked

Eliminating Iran's rocket sites and the prevention of nuclear weapons development were listed as additional objectives of the offensive. Aerial imagery also revealed damage at the southerly Khorgu and northwestern Tabriz missile bases, and at the Konarak air base, where weapons bunkers and bunkers were struck.

At the Choqa Balk-e drone unmanned aircraft site west of Kermanshah, significant destruction was seen to sheds, underground facilities and UAV launching apparatus.

Impact was also observed at a radar installation at the Zahedan airbase in eastern Iran, near the border with neighboring nations.

Perhaps most notably, the latest wave of strikes have reportedly focused on sites at Natanz – widely believed to be at the core of the country's atomic program. A global monitoring agency commented that the damaged structures were used for entry to the facility's underground enrichment facility and that "no radiological consequence" was expected.

Wider Fallout and Analysis

Military analysts indicated that the offensive appeared to have "greatly reduced" the Iran's naval capacity to conduct traditional warfare using its biggest vessels. Nevertheless, it was stressed that Tehran still has the ability to launch asymmetric warfare at sea through the use of drones, mini-submarines and its so-called "clandestine network" of oil ships.

The overall extent of the destruction caused to Iranian military facilities has yet to be fully assessed, with hostilities said to be continuing. Imagery also shows extensive damage to the headquarters of the Iran's Revolutionary Guards in the city of Tehran.

A large number of civilian buildings also are reported to have been damaged in the capital and throughout the country after the conflict began. Casualty figures from ground sources state that many hundreds of civilians may have been fatally injured in the bombardment.

Amid continuing hostilities, analysis of space-based data will continue to assess the evolving battlefield picture.