🔗 Share this article

A series of American and Israeli airstrikes has according to analysis destroyed or damaged a minimum of eleven Iran's navy ships starting Saturday, new orbital imagery demonstrate, with launch facilities and nuclear sites also sustaining hits.

Pictures of the southerly Konarak military port and the Bandar Abbas port installation, which is located on the strategic Hormuz Strait and houses the main command of the Iran's naval force, reveal smoke billowing from several vessels on Monday and Tuesday.

Maritime Assets Incurred Substantial Losses

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

Intelligence reports suggest that at least five vessels at the port were "damaged or eliminated". Photos of the southern end of the port reveal smoke rising from the Makran, while additional vessels are visibly harmed, with a single one visibly ablaze.

Over at Konarak, photos reveal numerous harmed ships, with expert review pointing to impacts on six vessels. Photos from Monday also indicate that a number of buildings at the installation have been demolished.

"For many years the Iran's leadership has harassed international shipping," an American commander stated. "Now, there is not one vessel from Iran operational in the Persian Gulf, Strait of Hormuz or Sea of Oman, and we will not stop."

Some ships allegedly sunk may have been hidden in satellite images by haze or plumes, or struck at sea, and have not been independently verified. Separate reports indicated that an Iranian vessel was going down near Sri Lanka's waters, prompting a rescue operation.

Missile Bases and Nuclear Locations Hit

Eliminating Iran's rocket sites and the prevention of nuclear weapons development were stated as other goals of the air campaign. Satellite images also revealed strikes on the southerly Khorgu and north-western Tabriz missile bases, and at the Konarak air base, where missile storage facilities and fortifications were targeted.

Over at the Choqa Balk-e drone base to the west of Kermanshah, widespread destruction was seen to warehouses, underground facilities and unmanned aircraft systems.

Damage was also seen at a surveillance station at the Zahedan military airport in eastern Iran, close to the border with Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Of particular note, the most recent series of strikes have reportedly focused on facilities at Natanz – long said to be at the heart of Iran's atomic program. A global monitoring agency stated that the damaged structures were used for entry to the site's underground enrichment facility and that "no release of radioactive material" was likely.

Broader Fallout and Analysis

Observers suggested that the attacks appeared to have "significantly degraded" the Iranian navy's ability to conduct standard operations using its largest vessels. However, it was noted that Iran retains the ability to launch unconventional attacks at sea through the use of unmanned aerial vehicles, mini-submarines and its so-called "clandestine network" of oil ships.

The full scale of the damage caused to Iran's defense facilities remains unclear, with strikes reportedly ongoing. Pictures also reveals widespread damage to the main offices of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in the city of Tehran.

Numerous of non-military structures also seem to have been hit in the capital and across the country since the conflict started. Reports of deaths from local officials indicate that many hundreds of civilians may have been lost their lives in the attacks.

With the conflict ongoing, review of space-based data will continue to assess the changing scope of damage.