🔗 Share this article

A series of joint strikes has reportedly destroyed or damaged at least 11 Iranian naval vessels since Saturday, freshly analyzed satellite images reveal, with rocket sites and enrichment plants also coming under fire.

Images of the southerly Konarak naval naval base and the Bandar Abbas installation, which is located on the Strait of Hormuz and houses the main command of the Iran's naval force, show plumes of smoke rising from a number of vessels on recent days.

Naval Forces Incurred Substantial Losses

Among the ships sunk was the Makran, the country's biggest warship which had served as a unmanned aerial vehicle platform. Orbital photos showed black smoke emanating from the ship which had been docked at the Bandar Abbas base.

Intelligence reports state that at least five ships at Bandar Abbas were "damaged or eliminated". Imagery of the south end of the port show plumes ascending from the IRINS Makran, while additional vessels are visibly damaged, with a single one clearly on fire.

At Konarak, images show several damaged vessels, with analysis identifying damage to a half-dozen warships. Pictures from the start of the week also demonstrate that multiple buildings at the installation have been leveled.

"For decades the Iran's leadership has threatened commercial vessels," the head of US Central Command declared. "At present, there is no Iranian ship operational in the Arabian Gulf, Hormuz Strait or Sea of Oman, and we will not stop."

A number of vessels allegedly sunk may have been hidden in satellite images by haze or plumes, or struck at sea, and have not been independently verified. Other accounts indicated that an Iranian vessel was foundering off the coast of Sri Lankan territorial waters, leading to a search and rescue mission.

Missile Installations and Nuclear Facilities Attacked

The destruction of Iran's rocket sites and the prevention of enrichment activities were stated as additional goals of the military strikes. Aerial imagery also showed damage at the southerly Khorgu and northwestern Tabriz missile facilities, and at the Konarak air base, where missile storage facilities and bunkers were struck.

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

Damage was also noted at a radar site at the Zahedan airbase military airport in eastern Iran, close to the border with neighboring nations.

Of particular note, the most recent series of strikes have reportedly focused on facilities at Natanz – widely believed to be at the heart of Iran's nuclear programme. The UN's atomic energy body commented that the affected structures were used for access to the site's below-ground nuclear plant and that "no radiological consequence" was expected.

Wider Consequences and Assessment

Military analysts stated that the attacks appeared to have "largely neutralized" the Iranian navy's capability to carry out standard operations using its biggest vessels. However, it was emphasised that Iran still has the capacity to launch asymmetric warfare at sea through the use of unmanned aerial vehicles, midget subs and its so-called "clandestine network" of oil ships.

The overall scope of the destruction caused to Iran's defense infrastructure is still uncertain, with hostilities said to be ongoing. Photos also indicates considerable destruction to the command center of the Iran's Revolutionary Guards in the capital Tehran.

A significant number of public facilities also seem to have been hit in the capital city and across Iran after the conflict started. Casualty figures from local officials suggest that a high number of non-combatants may have been fatally injured in the attacks.

With the conflict ongoing, monitoring of space-based data will persist to document the unfolding scope of damage.