🔗 Share this article

Multiple US and Israeli attacks has allegedly destroyed or damaged at least eleven Iranian naval vessels starting Saturday, recently obtained satellite images show, with rocket sites and nuclear sites also sustaining hits.

Pictures of the southern Konarak naval naval base and the Bandar Abbas facility, which sits on the strategic Hormuz Strait and houses the headquarters of the Iran's naval force, reveal smoke billowing from multiple ships on Monday and Tuesday.

Naval Assets Incurred Major Losses

Among the ships sunk was the IRINS Makran, Iran's largest naval vessel which had been used as a unmanned aerial vehicle platform. Orbital photos indicated dark plumes rising from the vessel which had been docked at the Bandar Abbas base.

Analytical evaluations suggest that no fewer than five ships at the port were "struck or destroyed". Imagery of the southern part of the harbor show plumes ascending from the IRINS Makran, while additional ships seem to be damaged, with one clearly on fire.

At Konarak, images display several damaged ships, with expert review identifying strikes against six ships. Pictures taken on Monday also demonstrate that several structures at the base have been demolished.

"For decades the Iranian regime has threatened global maritime traffic," a senior US military official said. "Today, there is not one Iranian vessel at sea in the Persian Gulf, Strait of Hormuz or Sea of Oman, and we will not stop."

Some vessels reportedly sunk may have been concealed in satellite images by cloud or smoke, or targeted offshore, and have not been independently verified. Other accounts stated that one Iranian ship was going down near Sri Lanka's waters, leading to a search and rescue mission.

Missile Installations and Nuclear Facilities Attacked

Neutralizing Iran's rocket sites and the stopping atomic bomb programs were listed as additional goals of the military strikes. Satellite images also showed strikes on the southern Khorgu base and northwestern Tabriz missile missile bases, and at the Konarak air air base, where weapons bunkers and fortifications were targeted.

Over at the Choqa Balk-e drone unmanned aircraft site west of the city of Kermanshah, extensive destruction was observed to warehouses, bunkers and drone launch equipment.

Destruction was also seen at a radar site at the Zahedan airbase in eastern parts of the country, close to the frontier with Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Perhaps most notably, the latest wave of attacks have apparently hit facilities at the Natanz complex – considered at the core of Iran's atomic program. A global monitoring agency said that the damaged structures were used for entry to the site's underground nuclear plant and that "no release of radioactive material" was likely.

Wider Consequences and Analysis

Observers suggested that the offensive appeared to have "significantly degraded" the Iran's naval capacity to carry out standard operations using its most significant warships. But, it was emphasised 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 overall scale of the damage caused to Iran's defense infrastructure is still uncertain, with strikes reportedly ongoing. Imagery also shows extensive destruction to the command center of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in the city of Tehran.

A large number of civilian buildings also appear to have been struck in the capital city and throughout the country after the hostilities began. Casualty figures from inside Iran suggest that many hundreds of non-combatants may have been fatally injured in the strikes.

With the conflict ongoing, review of aerial photographs will persist to document the unfolding battlefield picture.