🔗 Share this article

Multiple US and Israeli strikes has reportedly sunk or crippled no fewer than eleven warships belonging to Iran starting the weekend, recently obtained orbital imagery show, with launch facilities and nuclear sites also being targeted.

Images of the southerly Konarak naval base and the Bandar Abbas installation, which overlooks the Strait of Hormuz and houses the main command of the Iran's naval force, depict black smoke pouring from multiple warships on the start of the week.

Maritime Fleet Sustained Significant Damage

Included in the vessels destroyed was the IRINS Makran, the country's most sizable ship which had served as a drone carrier. Satellite images indicated dark plumes rising from the ship which had been stationed at the Bandar Abbas base.

Analytical assessments indicate that no fewer than five ships at the port were "struck or destroyed". Photos of the southern end of the port show smoke rising from the IRINS Makran, while additional ships appear to be damaged, with one seen burning.

Over at Konarak, photos show several stricken ships, with expert review pointing to impacts on a half-dozen warships. Images taken on Monday also indicate that a number of structures at the installation have been destroyed.

"For a long time the Tehran government has disrupted commercial vessels," an American commander declared. "At present, there is not one Iranian vessel underway in the Persian Gulf, Strait of Hormuz or Gulf of Oman, and we will persist."

A number of vessels allegedly destroyed may have been hidden in aerial photos by weather conditions or battle damage, or struck at sea, and have not been conclusively proven. Additional information suggested that a ship from Iran was foundering near Sri Lankan territorial waters, resulting in a rescue operation.

Rocket Installations and Atomic Facilities Targeted

Eliminating Iranian missile bases and the prevention of atomic bomb programs were listed as additional goals of the military strikes. Satellite images also showed damage at the southern Khorgu base and north-western Tabriz facilities, and at the Konarak air base, where missile storage facilities and bunkers were targeted.

Over at the Choqa Balk-e UAV facility to the west of the city of Kermanshah, widespread destruction was seen to storage buildings, underground facilities and drone launch equipment.

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

Perhaps most notably, the latest wave of strikes have reportedly hit installations at the Natanz complex – widely believed to be at the center of the country's atomic program. The UN's atomic energy body said that the damaged structures were used for entry to the facility's below-ground nuclear plant and that "no nuclear fallout" was expected.

Wider Consequences and Assessment

Defense experts indicated that the offensive appeared to have "greatly reduced" the Iran's naval capability to conduct conventional attacks using its largest warships. Nevertheless, it was noted that Tehran maintains the capacity to launch irregular strikes at sea through the use of drones, small submarines and its so-called "ghost fleet" of oil ships.

The total scope of the destruction caused to Iranian military infrastructure remains unclear, with attacks reportedly persisting. Pictures also shows extensive damage to the command center of the the IRGC in the city of Tehran.

A significant number of public facilities also are reported to have been struck in the capital city and throughout the country after the fighting started. Toll estimates from inside Iran indicate that a high number of non-combatants may have been fatally injured in the attacks.

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