🔗 Share this article

Multiple joint attacks has allegedly sunk or crippled at least 11 Iran's navy ships since the weekend, freshly analyzed satellite images show, with rocket sites and enrichment plants also coming under fire.

Pictures of the southern Konarak naval base and the Bandar Abbas installation, which overlooks the strategic Hormuz Strait and is home to the main command of the Iran's naval force, reveal smoke billowing from several vessels on the start of the week.

Maritime Assets Sustained Substantial Losses

Included in the vessels destroyed was the Makran, the country's largest naval vessel which had served as a unmanned aerial vehicle platform. Orbital photos displayed thick smoke emanating from the ship which had been stationed at the Bandar Abbas base.

Intelligence reports state that no fewer than five ships at Bandar Abbas were "damaged or eliminated". Pictures of the south end of the harbor reveal smoke rising from the IRINS Makran, while two other vessels appear to be harmed, with one seen burning.

Over at Konarak, photos display multiple damaged ships, with intelligence reports identifying strikes against a half-dozen warships. Images from Monday also demonstrate that a number of buildings at the installation have been leveled.

"For many years the Iran's leadership has harassed international shipping," the head of US Central Command stated. "Today, there is not one Iranian ship at sea in the Arabian Gulf, Hormuz Strait or Sea of Oman, and we will continue."

A number of ships reportedly destroyed may have been obscured in satellite images by cloud or smoke, or struck at sea, and have yet to be fully confirmed. Separate reports stated that an Iranian vessel was sinking off the coast of Sri Lankan territorial waters, prompting a rescue operation.

Rocket Sites and Nuclear Facilities Attacked

The destruction of Iranian missile bases and the stopping nuclear weapons development were listed as further objectives of the military strikes. Satellite images also depicted damage at the southern Khorgu and northwestern Tabriz missile missile bases, and at the Konarak air base, where missile storage facilities and fortifications were struck.

At the Choqa Balk-e UAV facility to the west of the city of Kermanshah, widespread destruction was identified to sheds, bunkers and unmanned aircraft systems.

Destruction was also observed at a radar installation at the Zahedan military airport in eastern parts of the country, near the frontier with Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Significantly, the most recent series of attacks have apparently hit installations at the Natanz complex – widely believed to be at the core of Iran's enrichment efforts. The UN's atomic energy body stated that the affected structures were used for access to the site's below-ground nuclear plant and that "no release of radioactive material" was anticipated.

Broader Consequences and Analysis

Observers indicated that the strikes appeared to have "significantly degraded" the Iran's naval capability to sustain conventional attacks using its biggest warships. Nevertheless, it was emphasised that Iran still has the capacity to launch asymmetric warfare at sea through the use of drones, midget subs and its so-called "clandestine network" of tankers.

The total scale of the damage caused to Iran's defense facilities is still uncertain, with strikes reportedly continuing. Pictures also shows widespread destruction to the headquarters of the the IRGC in the capital Tehran.

A large number of civilian buildings also appear to have been damaged in the capital city and throughout Iran since the fighting began. Reports of deaths from ground sources suggest that hundreds of non-combatants may have been killed in the attacks.

Amid continuing hostilities, analysis of satellite imagery will continue to assess the changing military landscape.