🔗 Share this article

A wave of American and Israeli attacks has according to analysis eliminated or harmed a minimum of eleven Iran's navy ships since the weekend, new satellite images demonstrate, with rocket sites and atomic facilities also sustaining hits.

Photographs of the southerly Konarak naval military port and the Bandar Abbas port facility, which is located on the strategic Hormuz Strait and houses the main command of the Iranian navy, show black smoke pouring from a number of vessels on the start of the week.

Naval Assets Incurred Major Damage

Among the vessels destroyed was the IRINS Makran, Iran's largest naval vessel which had functioned as a drone carrier. Satellite images indicated black smoke rising from the ship which had been docked at the Bandar Abbas base.

Intelligence reports indicate that no fewer than five vessels at the port were "hit or sunk". Photos of the southern end of the harbor reveal smoke emanating from the Makran, while another pair of vessels seem to be harmed, with one of them seen burning.

At the Konarak base, images show several stricken vessels, with analysis identifying damage to six ships. Images taken on Monday also demonstrate that multiple buildings at the base have been destroyed.

"For decades the Iran's leadership has harassed global maritime traffic," a senior US military official declared. "Today, there is not one Iranian vessel operational in the Persian Gulf, Strait of Hormuz or Sea of Oman, and we will continue."

Some ships allegedly destroyed may have been concealed in satellite images by cloud or smoke, or targeted offshore, and have not been independently verified. Other accounts suggested that a ship from Iran was going down off the coast of Sri Lankan territorial waters, resulting in a rescue operation.

Rocket Installations and Atomic Facilities Attacked

Eliminating Tehran's launch facilities and the prevention of atomic bomb programs were listed as additional aims of the air campaign. Satellite images also showed strikes on the southern Khorgu and north-western Tabriz facilities, and at the Konarak air base, where missile storage facilities and fortifications were struck.

At the Choqa Balk-e drone base to the west of the city of Kermanshah, significant damage was seen to warehouses, underground facilities and unmanned aircraft systems.

Destruction was also observed at a radar site at the Zahedan airbase airbase in eastern parts of the country, close to the border with neighboring nations.

Perhaps most notably, the new round of attacks have apparently hit sites at Natanz – widely believed to be at the core of the country's atomic program. The UN's atomic energy body stated that the affected structures were used for entry to the facility's below-ground enrichment facility and that "no radiological consequence" was likely.

Wider Impact and Assessment

Military analysts suggested that the offensive appeared to have "largely neutralized" the Iran's naval ability to carry out standard operations using its biggest vessels. Nevertheless, it was emphasised that Iran maintains the ability to launch irregular strikes at sea through the use of unmanned aerial vehicles, midget subs and its so-called "shadow fleet" of tankers.

The overall scope of the damage caused to Iranian military infrastructure is still uncertain, with hostilities reportedly continuing. Photos also reveals considerable damage to the main offices of the the IRGC in the capital Tehran.

A significant number of non-military structures also seem to have been damaged in the capital city and throughout Iran after the fighting escalated. Toll estimates from local officials suggest that hundreds of non-combatants may have been killed in the attacks.

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