🔗 Share this article

A wave of joint attacks has according to analysis eliminated or harmed at least 11 Iranian naval vessels since the weekend, recently obtained satellite images demonstrate, with missile bases and atomic facilities also coming under fire.

Images of the southerly Konarak naval military port and the Bandar Abbas facility, which overlooks the strategic Hormuz Strait and is home to the main command of the Iran's naval force, reveal smoke billowing from multiple ships on Monday and Tuesday.

Naval Fleet Incurred Significant Losses

Included in the ships sunk was the IRINS Makran, Iran's largest naval vessel which had functioned as a drone carrier. Orbital photos indicated black smoke emanating from the ship which had been stationed at the Bandar Abbas naval base.

Analytical reports indicate that at least five vessels at Bandar Abbas were "damaged or eliminated". Photos of the south end of the port depict plumes ascending from the IRINS Makran, while additional vessels appear to be harmed, with one of them seen burning.

Over at Konarak, photos reveal several damaged vessels, with expert review pointing to strikes against a half-dozen warships. Photos from the start of the week also indicate that multiple facilities at the base have been destroyed.

"For a long time the Iran's leadership has harassed commercial vessels," a senior US military official stated. "At present, there is not one Iranian vessel operational in the Arabian Gulf, Hormuz Strait or Sea of Oman, and we will not stop."

Some vessels allegedly sunk may have been concealed in satellite images by haze or plumes, or hit in open waters, and have not been independently verified. Separate reports indicated that a ship from Iran was sinking off the coast of Sri Lankan territorial waters, leading to a rescue operation.

Rocket Sites and Nuclear Locations Targeted

Eliminating Tehran's launch facilities and the stopping 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 facilities, and at the Konarak base, where weapons bunkers and fortifications were hit.

At the Choqa Balk-e drone unmanned aircraft site west of Kermanshah, widespread damage was identified to sheds, underground facilities and drone launch equipment.

Destruction was also seen at a radar site at the Zahedan airbase airbase in eastern Iran, near the frontier with Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Perhaps most notably, the most recent series of strikes have apparently hit sites at the Natanz complex – considered at the center of the country's nuclear programme. A global monitoring agency stated that the affected structures were used for entry to the facility's below-ground enrichment facility and that "no nuclear fallout" was expected.

Wider Impact and Assessment

Observers indicated that the offensive appeared to have "greatly reduced" the Iranian navy's capacity to sustain traditional warfare using its largest warships. However, it was stressed that Tehran still has the option to launch unconventional attacks at sea through the use of drones, mini-submarines and its so-called "ghost fleet" of oil ships.

The overall scope of the damage caused to Iranian military facilities remains unclear, with strikes said to be ongoing. Imagery also indicates considerable destruction to the main offices of the Iran's Revolutionary Guards in the city of Tehran.

Numerous of civilian buildings also appear to have been damaged in the capital city and throughout Iran after the fighting began. Casualty figures from local officials suggest that a high number of civilians may have been fatally injured in the attacks.

As the situation develops, monitoring of space-based data will carry on to assess the unfolding military landscape.