🔗 Share this article

Multiple joint attacks has reportedly destroyed or damaged at least 11 warships belonging to Iran since Saturday, recently obtained orbital imagery show, with missile bases and nuclear sites also coming under fire.

Pictures of the southern Konarak military port and the Bandar Abbas port facility, which overlooks the strategic Hormuz Strait and contains the headquarters of the Iranian navy, reveal black smoke pouring from a number of ships on the start of the week.

Naval Fleet Sustained Substantial Damage

Among the targets eliminated was the Makran, Iran's most sizable ship which had functioned as a drone carrier. Orbital photos showed thick smoke pouring from the vessel which had been docked at the Bandar Abbas naval base.

Analytical evaluations state that no fewer than five vessels at the port were "struck or destroyed". Pictures of the southern end of the harbor reveal plumes ascending from the Makran, while another pair of vessels appear to be impacted, with one of them clearly on fire.

At the Konarak base, images display numerous harmed ships, with intelligence reports identifying impacts on a half-dozen warships. Pictures taken on the start of the week also demonstrate that a number of structures at the base have been demolished.

"For many years the Iran's leadership has disrupted international shipping," an American commander declared. "Today, there is no Iranian ship underway in the Persian Gulf, Strait of Hormuz or Sea of Oman, and we will persist."

Some ships reportedly destroyed may have been hidden in aerial photos by cloud or smoke, or hit in open waters, and have not been conclusively proven. Other accounts suggested that one Iranian ship was going down off the coast of Sri Lankan waters, resulting in a rescue operation.

Missile Sites and Nuclear Locations Attacked

Eliminating Tehran's launch facilities and the hindering of nuclear weapons development were declared as additional goals of the offensive. Satellite images also depicted impacts against the southerly Khorgu and north-western Tabriz missile bases, and at the Konarak base, where rocket warehouses and bunkers were struck.

At the Choqa Balk-e drone base west of Kermanshah, extensive destruction was observed to warehouses, bunkers and UAV launching apparatus.

Impact was also observed at a surveillance station at the Zahedan airbase airbase in eastern Iran, near the frontier with Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Perhaps most notably, the latest wave of attacks have reportedly targeted sites at Natanz – long said to be at the center of Iran's enrichment efforts. A global monitoring agency commented that the damaged structures were used for access to the facility's below-ground enrichment facility and that "no release of radioactive material" was expected.

Wider Impact and Analysis

Defense experts indicated that the attacks appeared to have "greatly reduced" the Iranian navy's capability to carry out standard operations using its biggest warships. However, it was noted that Iran maintains the ability to launch unconventional attacks at sea through the use of unmanned aerial vehicles, small submarines and its so-called "ghost fleet" of tankers.

The total extent of the destruction caused to Iranian military facilities has yet to be fully assessed, with strikes said to be persisting. Photos also shows extensive destruction to the headquarters of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in the capital Tehran.

A large number of non-military structures also are reported to have been damaged in the capital city and across the country since the hostilities escalated. Casualty figures from ground sources state that a high number of non-combatants may have been fatally injured in the attacks.

With the conflict ongoing, review of aerial photographs will continue to document the evolving battlefield picture.