🔗 Share this article

Multiple joint strikes has reportedly destroyed or damaged no fewer than 11 Iran's navy ships since Saturday, recently obtained satellite images reveal, with missile bases and nuclear sites also coming under fire.

Pictures of the southerly Konarak military port and the Bandar Abbas port installation, which is located on the Strait of Hormuz and houses the main command of the Iranian navy, show plumes of smoke rising from multiple ships on the start of the week.

Maritime Fleet Sustained Major Losses

Included in the ships sunk was the IRINS Makran, the country's largest naval vessel which had served as a drone carrier. Orbital photos displayed black smoke pouring from the vessel which had been moored at the Bandar Abbas base.

Intelligence assessments indicate that no fewer than five ships at Bandar Abbas were "struck or destroyed". Pictures of the southern end of the port show plumes ascending from the IRINS Makran, while additional ships appear to be harmed, with a single one clearly on fire.

At the Konarak base, images show several harmed ships, with analysis pointing to damage to a half-dozen warships. Pictures taken on Monday also demonstrate that several buildings at the installation have been destroyed.

"For a long time the Iran's leadership has disrupted international shipping," the head of US Central Command stated. "Today, there is no vessel from Iran operational in the Arabian Gulf, Strait of Hormuz or Gulf of Oman, and we will not stop."

A number of vessels reportedly destroyed may have been concealed in aerial photos by cloud or smoke, or targeted offshore, and have yet to be fully confirmed. Other accounts stated that a ship from Iran was foundering off the coast of Sri Lankan territorial waters, prompting a rescue operation.

Missile Installations and Atomic Locations Targeted

The destruction of Tehran's launch facilities and the stopping atomic bomb programs were listed as further objectives of the air campaign. Satellite images also revealed damage at the southerly Khorgu base and north-western Tabriz missile bases, and at the Konarak air base, where missile storage facilities and fortifications were hit.

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

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

Significantly, the new round of strikes have apparently targeted sites at Natanz – considered at the heart of the country's atomic program. A global monitoring agency commented that the damaged buildings were used for entry to the site's underground enrichment facility and that "no radiological consequence" was anticipated.

Wider Consequences and Analysis

Observers indicated that the offensive appeared to have "largely neutralized" the Iran's naval capacity to conduct standard operations using its most significant warships. However, it was emphasised that Tehran maintains the capacity to launch asymmetric warfare at sea through the use of unmanned aerial vehicles, mini-submarines and its so-called "ghost fleet" of oil ships.

The overall scope of the destruction caused to Iran's defense facilities is still uncertain, with hostilities said to be persisting. Photos also indicates widespread destruction to the main offices of the the IRGC in the city of Tehran.

A significant number of public facilities also are reported to have been damaged in the capital city and throughout the country since the hostilities escalated. Reports of deaths from local officials indicate that a high number of non-combatants may have been fatally injured in the attacks.

With the conflict ongoing, analysis of satellite imagery will persist to assess the unfolding scope of damage.