🔗 Share this article

A series of joint attacks has allegedly eliminated or harmed a minimum of 11 Iran's navy ships since Saturday, recently obtained orbital imagery reveal, with missile bases and enrichment plants also being targeted.

Pictures of the southern Konarak naval naval base and the Bandar Abbas installation, which sits on the Strait of Hormuz and contains the main command of the Iranian navy, reveal plumes of smoke rising from a number of warships on recent days.

Maritime Fleet Sustained Significant Damage

Included in the targets eliminated was the IRINS Makran, the country's largest naval vessel which had been used as a unmanned aerial vehicle platform. Aerial imagery displayed dark plumes emanating from the vessel which had been moored at the Bandar Abbas naval base.

Analytical reports suggest that no fewer than five ships at Bandar Abbas were "hit or sunk". Photos of the southern part of the port show smoke rising from the IRINS Makran, while two other vessels appear to be harmed, with one clearly on fire.

Over at Konarak, photos display numerous damaged vessels, with expert review identifying damage to six ships. Images from the start of the week also indicate that several buildings at the base have been demolished.

"For a long time the Iranian regime has disrupted international shipping," an American commander said. "Now, there is no Iranian vessel operational in the Persian Gulf, Hormuz Strait or Gulf of Oman, and we will continue."

A number of vessels reportedly sunk may have been hidden in satellite images by haze or plumes, or targeted offshore, and have not been conclusively proven. Separate reports stated that a ship from Iran was foundering near Sri Lankan waters, resulting in a rescue operation.

Missile Installations and Atomic Locations Hit

Neutralizing Iranian missile bases and the prevention of atomic bomb programs were stated as additional goals of the offensive. Aerial imagery also showed impacts against the southern Khorgu base and north-western Tabriz missile missile bases, and at the Konarak air air base, where rocket warehouses and fortifications were hit.

Over at the Choqa Balk-e drone UAV facility west of the city of Kermanshah, significant damage was identified to sheds, underground facilities and unmanned aircraft systems.

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

Perhaps most notably, the latest wave of strikes have reportedly targeted sites at the Natanz complex – long said to be at the core of Iran's nuclear programme. The UN's atomic energy body said that the damaged structures were used for entry to the facility's underground nuclear plant and that "no nuclear fallout" was likely.

Broader Fallout and Assessment

Observers suggested that the offensive appeared to have "greatly reduced" the Iranian navy's capacity to conduct conventional attacks using its most significant vessels. But, it was stressed that Tehran still has the ability to launch asymmetric warfare at sea through the use of drones, mini-submarines and its so-called "clandestine network" of oil ships.

The full extent of the destruction caused to Iranian military facilities has yet to be fully assessed, with attacks said to be ongoing. Photos also indicates widespread destruction to the command center of the Iran's Revolutionary Guards in the capital Tehran.

A significant number of civilian buildings also are reported to have been struck in the capital and throughout the country after the hostilities started. Toll estimates from local officials indicate that hundreds of civilians may have been killed in the bombardment.

Amid continuing hostilities, monitoring of space-based data will persist to document the unfolding battlefield picture.