🔗 Share this article

A series of American and Israeli strikes has according to analysis eliminated or harmed no fewer than 11 warships belonging to Iran since the weekend, recently obtained orbital imagery reveal, with missile bases and nuclear sites also being targeted.

Photographs of the southerly Konarak naval military port and the Bandar Abbas installation, which sits on the strategic Hormuz Strait and is home to the main command of the Iranian navy, reveal black smoke pouring from multiple ships on Monday and Tuesday.

Naval Fleet Incurred Significant Losses

Among the ships sunk was the IRINS Makran, the country's biggest warship which had been used as a drone carrier. Satellite images showed thick smoke rising from the ship which had been stationed at the Bandar Abbas naval base.

Analytical assessments suggest that at least five vessels at the port were "struck or destroyed". Pictures of the southern end of the harbor depict smoke rising from the IRINS Makran, while another pair of ships are visibly damaged, with one visibly ablaze.

Over at Konarak, photos show numerous damaged vessels, with analysis identifying strikes against a half-dozen warships. Pictures taken on the start of the week also show that multiple buildings at the base have been destroyed.

"For many years the Iran's leadership has disrupted international shipping," an American commander stated. "Today, there is not one Iranian vessel underway in the Arabian Gulf, Hormuz Strait or Gulf of Oman, and we will continue."

A number of vessels allegedly sunk may have been hidden in satellite images by cloud or smoke, or hit in open waters, and have not been independently verified. Other accounts indicated that one Iranian ship was going down off the coast of Sri Lanka's waters, prompting a rescue operation.

Missile Bases and Nuclear Facilities Hit

Neutralizing Iranian missile bases and the hindering of nuclear weapons development were declared as additional goals of the air campaign. Satellite images also showed strikes on the southerly Khorgu base and northwestern Tabriz missile missile bases, and at the Konarak air air base, where missile storage facilities and fortifications were targeted.

Over at the Choqa Balk-e unmanned aircraft site west of Kermanshah, extensive damage was identified to storage buildings, bunkers and unmanned aircraft systems.

Damage was also seen at a radar site at the Zahedan airbase military airport in eastern parts of the country, close to the frontier with Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Perhaps most notably, the latest wave of attacks have reportedly focused on sites at the Natanz complex – widely believed to be at the core of Iran's atomic program. A global monitoring agency stated that the affected buildings were used for entry to the facility's below-ground nuclear plant and that "no nuclear fallout" was anticipated.

Broader Consequences and Analysis

Observers suggested that the strikes appeared to have "greatly reduced" the Iran's naval capability to conduct standard operations using its most significant warships. However, it was stressed that Tehran retains the ability to launch asymmetric warfare at sea through the use of unmanned aerial vehicles, mini-submarines and its so-called "ghost fleet" of tankers.

The full extent of the destruction caused to Iran's defense facilities has yet to be fully assessed, with strikes said to be persisting. Pictures also shows considerable destruction to the command center of the Iran's Revolutionary Guards in the capital Tehran.

Numerous of non-military structures also appear to have been struck in the capital city and across Iran since the fighting escalated. Toll estimates from local officials indicate that hundreds of non-combatants may have been fatally injured in the strikes.

With the conflict ongoing, review of aerial photographs will persist to track the evolving battlefield picture.