🔗 Share this article

Multiple US and Israeli airstrikes has reportedly sunk or crippled a minimum of 11 Iran's navy ships starting Saturday, freshly analyzed aerial photos show, with missile bases and enrichment plants also being targeted.

Pictures of the southerly Konarak naval military port and the Bandar Abbas port installation, which sits on the strategic Hormuz Strait and contains the headquarters of the Iranian navy, reveal plumes of smoke rising from a number of vessels on Monday and Tuesday.

Maritime Forces Sustained Major Losses

Included in the targets eliminated was the Makran, Iran's largest naval vessel which had functioned as a unmanned aerial vehicle platform. Orbital photos displayed thick smoke rising from the ship which had been moored at the Bandar Abbas naval base.

Intelligence evaluations indicate that at least a quintet of warships at Bandar Abbas were "hit or sunk". Imagery of the southern end of the harbor reveal smoke emanating from the IRINS Makran, while another pair of ships are visibly harmed, with a single one clearly on fire.

At Konarak, photos display several harmed vessels, with analysis pointing to impacts on a half-dozen warships. Images taken on the start of the week also indicate that multiple structures at the base have been leveled.

"For many years the Tehran government has harassed commercial vessels," the head of US Central Command stated. "At present, there is not a single Iranian vessel operational in the Arabian Gulf, Hormuz Strait or Gulf of Oman, and we will persist."

Some ships allegedly destroyed may have been hidden in aerial photos by weather conditions or battle damage, or targeted offshore, and have not been independently verified. Separate reports indicated that one Iranian ship was foundering near Sri Lanka's waters, leading to a rescue operation.

Missile Bases and Nuclear Facilities Attacked

Eliminating Iran's rocket sites and the prevention of atomic bomb programs were stated as other aims of the offensive. Aerial imagery also revealed damage at the southern Khorgu and northwestern Tabriz missile facilities, and at the Konarak base, where missile storage facilities and bunkers were targeted.

At the Choqa Balk-e unmanned aircraft site west of Kermanshah, extensive destruction was identified to warehouses, bunkers and drone launch equipment.

Destruction was also noted at a radar site at the Zahedan airbase in eastern Iran, close to the frontier with neighboring nations.

Significantly, the new round of strikes have reportedly hit installations at Natanz – widely believed to be at the center of Iran's enrichment efforts. An international watchdog stated that the damaged buildings were used for access to the facility's below-ground nuclear plant and that "no radiological consequence" was likely.

Broader Consequences and Analysis

Defense experts stated that the offensive appeared to have "significantly degraded" the Iranian navy's capability to carry out standard operations using its largest vessels. Nevertheless, it was stressed that Tehran still has the option to launch asymmetric warfare at sea through the use of unmanned aerial vehicles, midget subs and its so-called "ghost fleet" of oil ships.

The total scale of the destruction caused to Iranian military facilities remains unclear, with hostilities said to be continuing. Photos also shows widespread destruction to the main offices of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in the city of Tehran.

A large number of non-military structures also are reported to have been damaged in the capital city and throughout Iran since the hostilities escalated. Reports of deaths from inside Iran state that hundreds of civilians may have been lost their lives in the bombardment.

With the conflict ongoing, analysis of aerial photographs will continue to assess the evolving scope of damage.