🔗 Share this article

Multiple joint airstrikes has allegedly destroyed or damaged a minimum of eleven warships belonging to Iran starting the weekend, freshly analyzed aerial photos reveal, with launch facilities and nuclear sites also sustaining hits.

Pictures of the southerly Konarak military port and the Bandar Abbas port facility, which overlooks the Strait of Hormuz and is home to the main command of the Iranian navy, reveal smoke billowing from several warships on Monday and Tuesday.

Maritime Fleet Incurred Significant Losses

Among the vessels destroyed was the IRINS Makran, the country's most sizable ship which had served as a unmanned aerial vehicle platform. Satellite images indicated dark plumes rising from the vessel which had been stationed at the Bandar Abbas base.

Intelligence reports suggest that no fewer than five vessels at the port were "struck or destroyed". Pictures of the southern part of the harbor reveal smoke emanating from the IRINS Makran, while two other ships seem to be harmed, with a single one clearly on fire.

At the Konarak base, photos display several stricken ships, with expert review identifying impacts on six ships. Pictures from Monday also show that several buildings at the installation have been destroyed.

"For many years the Iranian regime has threatened commercial vessels," a senior US military official said. "Now, there is not one vessel from Iran operational in the Persian Gulf, Hormuz Strait or Sea of Oman, and we will continue."

A number of vessels reportedly sunk may have been obscured in aerial photos by weather conditions or battle damage, or struck at sea, and have yet to be fully confirmed. Additional information suggested that an Iranian vessel was foundering near Sri Lankan territorial waters, leading to a rescue operation.

Rocket Installations and Atomic Locations Targeted

Eliminating Tehran's launch facilities and the hindering of atomic bomb programs were listed as other goals of the offensive. Satellite images also depicted strikes on the southern Khorgu base and northwestern Tabriz missile bases, and at the Konarak base, where weapons bunkers and fortifications were struck.

At the Choqa Balk-e drone base west of the city of Kermanshah, significant damage was identified to warehouses, bunkers and UAV launching apparatus.

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

Perhaps most notably, the most recent series of strikes have reportedly targeted sites at the Natanz complex – widely believed to be at the heart of Iran's nuclear programme. An international watchdog commented that the affected structures were used for access to the facility's underground enrichment facility and that "no release of radioactive material" was expected.

Wider Impact and Analysis

Defense experts suggested that the offensive appeared to have "greatly reduced" the Iran's naval ability to conduct conventional attacks using its most significant warships. But, it was noted that Iran still has the option to launch asymmetric warfare at sea through the use of drones, small submarines and its so-called "ghost fleet" of tankers.

The total extent of the destruction caused to Iran's defense facilities remains unclear, with hostilities said to be continuing. Imagery also shows considerable damage to the headquarters of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in the city of Tehran.

A large number of public facilities also seem to have been damaged in the capital city and across Iran since the hostilities escalated. Toll estimates from inside Iran indicate that hundreds of non-combatants may have been lost their lives in the attacks.

As the situation develops, review of space-based data will continue to document the unfolding scope of damage.