🔗 Share this article

Multiple American and Israeli airstrikes has according to analysis sunk or crippled no fewer than 11 warships belonging to Iran starting Saturday, freshly analyzed satellite images reveal, with missile bases and atomic facilities also coming under fire.

Pictures of the southerly Konarak naval base and the Bandar Abbas port installation, which overlooks the strategic Hormuz Strait and contains the main command of the Iran's naval force, reveal black smoke pouring from several ships on the start of the week.

Maritime Assets Incurred Substantial Losses

Among the targets eliminated was the Makran, the country's biggest warship which had functioned as a unmanned aerial vehicle platform. Aerial imagery showed thick smoke emanating from the vessel which had been stationed at the Bandar Abbas naval base.

Intelligence evaluations indicate that at least a quintet of warships at the port were "struck or destroyed". Photos of the southern end of the harbor show plumes ascending from the IRINS Makran, while another pair of ships seem to be impacted, with one clearly on fire.

Over at Konarak, images display numerous damaged ships, with intelligence reports identifying strikes against six vessels. Photos from the start of the week also indicate that several structures at the installation have been demolished.

"For many years the Tehran government has threatened international shipping," the head of US Central Command stated. "At present, there is no Iranian ship operational in the Arabian Gulf, Strait of Hormuz or Sea of Oman, and we will persist."

Some vessels reportedly destroyed may have been concealed in aerial photos by weather conditions or battle damage, or hit in open waters, and have not been conclusively proven. 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 Nuclear Locations Attacked

Eliminating Iranian missile bases and the prevention of enrichment activities were declared as additional aims of the offensive. Satellite images also showed damage at the southerly Khorgu base and north-western Tabriz missile missile bases, and at the Konarak base, where weapons bunkers and bunkers were struck.

Over at the Choqa Balk-e drone UAV facility to the west of the city of Kermanshah, significant destruction was observed to warehouses, underground facilities and UAV launching apparatus.

Impact was also observed at a radar site at the Zahedan military airport in eastern Iran, near the frontier with Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Significantly, the new round of strikes have apparently hit sites at the Natanz complex – considered at the heart of Iran's nuclear programme. An international watchdog commented that the affected structures were used for access to the site's below-ground enrichment facility and that "no radiological consequence" was expected.

Broader Fallout and Assessment

Military analysts suggested that the attacks appeared to have "largely neutralized" the Iranian navy's capability to conduct traditional warfare using its most significant vessels. Nevertheless, it was stressed that Tehran maintains the capacity to launch unconventional attacks at sea through the use of drones, midget subs and its so-called "shadow fleet" of tankers.

The full extent of the destruction caused to Iran's defense infrastructure is still uncertain, with hostilities reportedly ongoing. Pictures also shows extensive destruction to the headquarters of the Iran's Revolutionary Guards in the capital Tehran.

A large number of civilian buildings also are reported to have been hit in the capital and across Iran after the fighting began. Toll estimates from local officials suggest that many hundreds of non-combatants may have been lost their lives in the strikes.

As the situation develops, monitoring of satellite imagery will persist to track the changing military landscape.