🔗 Share this article

A series of US and Israeli strikes has reportedly destroyed or damaged a minimum of 11 warships belonging to Iran since the weekend, new satellite images demonstrate, with rocket sites and enrichment plants also sustaining hits.

Images of the southerly Konarak military port and the Bandar Abbas installation, which is located on the Strait of Hormuz and is home to the headquarters of the Iran's naval force, show black smoke pouring from multiple warships on recent days.

Naval Fleet Sustained Substantial Damage

Among the targets eliminated was the Makran, Iran's biggest warship which had been used as a unmanned aerial vehicle platform. Orbital photos indicated thick smoke pouring from the vessel which had been moored at the Bandar Abbas naval base.

Analytical reports indicate that no fewer than a quintet of warships at Bandar Abbas were "struck or destroyed". Imagery of the southern part of the harbor reveal plumes ascending from the Makran, while additional vessels are visibly damaged, with one of them clearly on fire.

At the Konarak base, images show numerous damaged vessels, with analysis identifying damage to six ships. Photos taken on the start of the week also show that a number of buildings at the installation have been leveled.

"For a long time the Tehran government has threatened global maritime traffic," the head of US Central Command said. "Today, there is not a single vessel from Iran at sea in the Arabian Gulf, Hormuz Strait or Sea of Oman, and we will not stop."

A number of vessels reportedly sunk may have been obscured in aerial photos by weather conditions or battle damage, or struck at sea, and have not been conclusively proven. Additional information indicated that a ship from Iran was foundering near Sri Lankan territorial waters, resulting in a search and rescue mission.

Missile Installations and Atomic Facilities Hit

Neutralizing Iranian missile bases and the stopping atomic bomb programs were listed as additional goals of the offensive. Aerial imagery also depicted impacts against the southern Khorgu base and northwestern Tabriz facilities, and at the Konarak air air base, where rocket warehouses and fortifications were targeted.

Over at the Choqa Balk-e drone base to the west of Kermanshah, extensive destruction was observed to warehouses, underground facilities and drone launch equipment.

Impact was also seen at a radar site at the Zahedan airbase military airport in eastern parts of the country, close to the border with Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Significantly, the most recent series of strikes have reportedly focused on sites at Natanz – widely believed to be at the core of the country's nuclear programme. An international watchdog stated that the damaged structures were used for entry to the facility's below-ground enrichment facility and that "no release of radioactive material" was likely.

Wider Impact and Assessment

Observers suggested that the attacks appeared to have "largely neutralized" the Iran's naval ability to conduct standard operations using its largest warships. Nevertheless, it was emphasised that Iran maintains the ability to launch unconventional attacks at sea through the use of drones, small submarines and its so-called "ghost fleet" of tankers.

The full extent of the destruction caused to Iranian military infrastructure has yet to be fully assessed, with strikes reportedly continuing. Imagery also indicates widespread damage to the command center of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in the city of Tehran.

A large number of civilian buildings also seem to have been struck in the capital and throughout the country since the conflict escalated. Reports of deaths from local officials state that many hundreds of civilians may have been killed in the bombardment.

As the situation develops, analysis of space-based data will persist to document the evolving military landscape.