🔗 Share this article

Multiple joint airstrikes has reportedly eliminated or harmed a minimum of 11 Iran's navy ships starting Saturday, freshly analyzed satellite images reveal, with rocket sites and nuclear sites also sustaining hits.

Photographs of the southerly Konarak military port and the Bandar Abbas port facility, which overlooks the Strait of Hormuz and is home to the headquarters of the Iranian navy, show black smoke pouring from multiple vessels on recent days.

Maritime Forces Incurred Substantial Damage

Among the ships sunk was the Makran, Iran's biggest warship which had been used as a unmanned aerial vehicle platform. Orbital photos showed black smoke rising from the vessel which had been moored at the Bandar Abbas base.

Analytical assessments state that no fewer than five ships at Bandar Abbas were "hit or sunk". Imagery of the southern end of the port show smoke emanating from the Makran, while another pair of vessels seem to be harmed, with one of them visibly ablaze.

At Konarak, images display multiple stricken vessels, with analysis pointing to damage to six ships. Photos taken on Monday also show that several structures at the installation have been destroyed.

"For a long time the Tehran government has disrupted international shipping," the head of US Central Command stated. "Today, there is not one vessel from Iran operational in the Arabian Gulf, Strait of Hormuz or Sea of Oman, and we will persist."

A number of ships reportedly destroyed may have been concealed in satellite images by haze or plumes, or struck at sea, and have not been independently verified. Additional information suggested that one Iranian ship was sinking near Sri Lanka's territorial waters, leading to a rescue operation.

Rocket Bases and Atomic Facilities Hit

Neutralizing Iran's rocket sites and the hindering of atomic bomb programs were listed as other goals of the military strikes. Satellite images also depicted impacts against the southern Khorgu and north-western Tabriz missile bases, and at the Konarak base, where rocket warehouses and bunkers were targeted.

At the Choqa Balk-e drone base to the west of Kermanshah, significant damage was observed to storage buildings, underground facilities and unmanned aircraft systems.

Damage was also noted at a radar site at the Zahedan military airport in eastern Iran, near the frontier with Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Perhaps most notably, the latest wave of strikes have apparently hit facilities at Natanz – considered at the center of the country's enrichment efforts. An international watchdog stated that the damaged buildings were used for access to the facility's underground nuclear plant and that "no release of radioactive material" was likely.

Wider Consequences and Assessment

Military analysts indicated that the strikes appeared to have "greatly reduced" the Iran's naval capacity to carry out traditional warfare using its largest vessels. But, it was noted that Iran maintains the option to launch irregular strikes at sea through the use of unmanned aerial vehicles, small submarines and its so-called "clandestine network" of tankers.

The total scope of the damage caused to Iran's defense infrastructure is still uncertain, with attacks reportedly ongoing. Imagery also indicates widespread damage to the command center of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in the capital Tehran.

A large number of non-military structures also appear to have been struck in the capital and throughout the country since the fighting escalated. Toll estimates from inside Iran indicate that many hundreds of civilians may have been killed in the bombardment.

Amid continuing hostilities, review of aerial photographs will persist to assess the evolving battlefield picture.