🔗 Share this article

A wave of joint airstrikes has reportedly sunk or crippled a minimum of 11 Iranian naval vessels starting Saturday, new satellite images demonstrate, with rocket sites and atomic facilities also being targeted.

Images of the southerly Konarak naval naval base and the Bandar Abbas installation, which sits on the strategic Hormuz Strait and contains the main command of the Iranian navy, reveal smoke billowing from several warships on the start of the week.

Maritime Forces Sustained Substantial Damage

Included in the vessels destroyed was the Makran, Iran's largest naval vessel which had served as a drone carrier. Aerial imagery displayed black smoke pouring from the ship which had been stationed at the Bandar Abbas naval base.

Intelligence assessments indicate that no fewer than five vessels at the port were "struck or destroyed". Pictures of the south end of the harbor depict plumes ascending from the IRINS Makran, while two other ships appear to be harmed, with one visibly ablaze.

At Konarak, images show several harmed ships, with analysis identifying strikes against six vessels. Pictures from the start of the week also indicate that multiple facilities at the installation have been leveled.

"For many years the Iran's leadership has threatened global maritime traffic," an American commander said. "At present, there is not one Iranian vessel operational in the Persian Gulf, Strait of Hormuz or Sea of Oman, and we will not stop."

A number of vessels reportedly destroyed may have been obscured in aerial photos by haze or plumes, or struck at sea, and have not been independently verified. Other accounts stated that a ship from Iran was foundering off the coast of Sri Lanka's territorial waters, leading to a rescue operation.

Missile Sites and Atomic Locations Targeted

The destruction of Tehran's launch facilities and the stopping atomic bomb programs were declared as other objectives of the military strikes. Satellite images also revealed strikes on the southerly Khorgu base and north-western Tabriz missile facilities, and at the Konarak air air base, where missile storage facilities and bunkers were hit.

Over at the Choqa Balk-e drone base to the west of Kermanshah, significant damage was identified to warehouses, bunkers and drone launch equipment.

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

Significantly, the most recent series of strikes have reportedly targeted sites at Natanz – considered at the core of Iran's enrichment efforts. A global monitoring agency stated that the affected structures were used for access to the facility's below-ground nuclear plant and that "no radiological consequence" was anticipated.

Broader Impact and Analysis

Military analysts indicated that the strikes appeared to have "greatly reduced" the Iranian navy's capability to conduct standard operations using its biggest vessels. Nevertheless, it was stressed that Iran maintains the ability to launch irregular strikes at sea through the use of unmanned aerial vehicles, midget subs and its so-called "clandestine network" of oil ships.

The total extent of the damage caused to Iran's defense facilities has yet to be fully assessed, with hostilities reportedly ongoing. Imagery also reveals widespread destruction to the main offices of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in the capital Tehran.

Numerous of public facilities also appear to have been struck in the capital city and throughout the country since the fighting started. Toll estimates from local officials state that hundreds of civilians may have been killed in the bombardment.

Amid continuing hostilities, analysis of aerial photographs will persist to track the evolving scope of damage.