🔗 Share this article

A wave of joint airstrikes has according to analysis destroyed or damaged no fewer than eleven warships belonging to Iran since Saturday, freshly analyzed orbital imagery demonstrate, with rocket sites and nuclear sites also coming under fire.

Pictures of the southern Konarak naval naval base and the Bandar Abbas port installation, which overlooks the strategic Hormuz Strait and contains the headquarters of the Iran's naval force, reveal plumes of smoke rising from a number of vessels on Monday and Tuesday.

Naval Forces Incurred Major Damage

Included in the targets eliminated was the Makran, Iran's most sizable ship which had served as a unmanned aerial vehicle platform. Satellite images showed dark plumes emanating from the vessel which had been moored at the Bandar Abbas naval base.

Intelligence reports state that no fewer than five ships at Bandar Abbas were "damaged or eliminated". Imagery of the southern end of the port reveal smoke emanating from the Makran, while another pair of ships seem to be harmed, with a single one clearly on fire.

Over at Konarak, photos show numerous harmed vessels, with analysis identifying strikes against six vessels. Images taken on the start of the week also show that a number of buildings at the base have been destroyed.

"For a long time the Tehran government has harassed global maritime traffic," a senior US military official said. "At present, there is not one Iranian vessel at sea in the Persian Gulf, Strait of Hormuz or Gulf of Oman, and we will not stop."

A number of ships reportedly sunk may have been concealed in satellite images by cloud or smoke, or struck at sea, and have not been independently verified. Additional information suggested that one Iranian ship was going down off the coast of Sri Lankan waters, resulting in a rescue operation.

Rocket Sites and Nuclear Locations Attacked

Neutralizing Iranian missile bases and the prevention of atomic bomb programs were listed as additional aims of the military strikes. Aerial imagery also showed strikes on the southerly Khorgu base and north-western Tabriz missile facilities, and at the Konarak air base, where missile storage facilities and fortifications were hit.

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

Impact was also noted at a radar installation at the Zahedan airbase airbase in eastern Iran, close to the frontier with neighboring nations.

Significantly, the most recent series of attacks have reportedly hit installations at the Natanz complex – long said to be at the core of Iran's enrichment efforts. An international watchdog commented that the damaged structures were used for entry to the facility's below-ground nuclear plant and that "no nuclear fallout" was anticipated.

Broader Impact and Analysis

Military analysts indicated that the offensive appeared to have "significantly degraded" the Iran's naval ability to conduct traditional warfare using its largest vessels. Nevertheless, it was stressed that Iran still has the ability to launch unconventional attacks at sea through the use of drones, small submarines and its so-called "shadow fleet" of oil ships.

The overall scale of the destruction caused to Iran's defense infrastructure has yet to be fully assessed, with strikes reportedly persisting. Imagery also indicates widespread destruction to the headquarters of the the IRGC in the capital Tehran.

A significant number of non-military structures also seem to have been struck in the capital and throughout the country since the hostilities began. Toll estimates from inside Iran suggest that many hundreds of non-combatants may have been lost their lives in the attacks.

With the conflict ongoing, review of aerial photographs will continue to track the evolving military landscape.