🔗 Share this article

A series of American and Israeli airstrikes has allegedly destroyed or damaged no fewer than 11 Iran's navy ships since the weekend, new orbital imagery demonstrate, with rocket sites and enrichment plants also being targeted.

Photographs of the southern Konarak naval base and the Bandar Abbas port installation, which overlooks the strategic Hormuz Strait and is home to the headquarters of the Iran's naval force, show black smoke pouring from a number of ships on recent days.

Maritime Fleet Sustained Significant Damage

Among the ships sunk was the IRINS Makran, the country's most sizable ship which had been used as a drone carrier. Satellite images indicated dark plumes pouring from the ship which had been moored at the Bandar Abbas base.

Analytical evaluations state that at least a quintet of warships at Bandar Abbas were "struck or destroyed". Pictures of the southern part of the harbor depict plumes ascending from the IRINS Makran, while additional vessels seem to be damaged, with one of them clearly on fire.

At Konarak, photos reveal numerous stricken ships, with analysis pointing to strikes against six vessels. Pictures taken on Monday also indicate that multiple buildings at the base have been demolished.

"For many years the Tehran government has harassed international shipping," the head of US Central Command stated. "Now, there is not one vessel from Iran at sea in the Persian Gulf, Hormuz Strait or Sea of Oman, and we will continue."

A number of vessels reportedly destroyed may have been obscured in aerial photos by cloud or smoke, or targeted offshore, and have yet to be fully confirmed. Additional information indicated that one Iranian ship was sinking near Sri Lanka's waters, resulting in a rescue operation.

Rocket Sites and Nuclear Facilities Attacked

Eliminating Tehran's launch facilities and the stopping enrichment activities were declared as further objectives of the air campaign. Satellite images also depicted impacts against the southern Khorgu base and northwestern Tabriz facilities, and at the Konarak air air base, where missile storage facilities and fortifications were struck.

Over at the Choqa Balk-e drone drone base 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 in eastern Iran, near the frontier with neighboring nations.

Perhaps most notably, the latest wave of strikes have apparently focused on installations at Natanz – considered at the heart of Iran's atomic program. A global monitoring agency commented that the affected structures were used for access to the facility's underground nuclear plant and that "no radiological consequence" was expected.

Broader Consequences and Analysis

Defense experts stated that the offensive appeared to have "greatly reduced" the Iran's naval capability to sustain standard operations using its most significant vessels. Nevertheless, it was emphasised that Tehran retains the ability to launch unconventional attacks at sea through the use of drones, small submarines and its so-called "clandestine network" of tankers.

The overall scope of the destruction caused to Iranian military infrastructure is still uncertain, with strikes reportedly ongoing. Pictures also indicates widespread destruction to the headquarters of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in the capital Tehran.

A large number of public facilities also seem to have been damaged in the capital and throughout the country since the conflict started. Toll estimates from ground sources state that a high number of non-combatants may have been killed in the attacks.

Amid continuing hostilities, monitoring of aerial photographs will continue to track the changing military landscape.