🔗 Share this article

A wave of joint attacks has allegedly destroyed or damaged at least eleven warships belonging to Iran starting Saturday, recently obtained aerial photos demonstrate, with missile bases and nuclear sites also coming under fire.

Images of the southerly Konarak naval military port and the Bandar Abbas facility, which is located on the strategic Hormuz Strait and contains the headquarters of the Iranian navy, reveal smoke billowing from several ships on Monday and Tuesday.

Maritime Fleet Incurred Significant Losses

Included in the vessels destroyed was the IRINS Makran, Iran's most sizable ship which had functioned as a drone carrier. Satellite images showed dark plumes pouring from the ship which had been docked at the Bandar Abbas base.

Analytical evaluations suggest that no fewer than five vessels at the port were "hit or sunk". Pictures of the south end of the port show smoke emanating from the IRINS Makran, while another pair of vessels seem to be damaged, with one of them seen burning.

At Konarak, photos reveal several stricken vessels, with analysis identifying strikes against six ships. Photos taken on the start of the week also indicate that a number of buildings at the base have been destroyed.

"For decades the Iran's leadership has harassed international shipping," a senior US military official declared. "Today, there is not a single Iranian vessel operational in the Persian Gulf, Strait of Hormuz or Sea of Oman, and we will not stop."

A number of vessels allegedly sunk may have been hidden in aerial photos by haze or plumes, or hit in open waters, and have not been independently verified. Separate reports stated that an Iranian vessel was going down off the coast of Sri Lanka's waters, leading to a search and rescue mission.

Missile Installations and Nuclear Locations Hit

Neutralizing Iranian missile bases and the stopping nuclear weapons development were declared as further aims of the air campaign. Satellite images also showed damage at the southerly Khorgu and northwestern Tabriz missile facilities, and at the Konarak air air base, where rocket warehouses and bunkers were hit.

At the Choqa Balk-e drone base to the west of the city of Kermanshah, significant damage was identified to warehouses, underground facilities and drone launch equipment.

Destruction was also noted at a radar installation at the Zahedan airbase military airport in eastern parts of the country, near the frontier with Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Perhaps most notably, the new round of strikes have reportedly targeted sites at Natanz – widely believed to be at the heart of Iran's atomic program. The UN's atomic energy body commented that the affected structures were used for access to the site's below-ground enrichment facility and that "no release of radioactive material" was anticipated.

Broader Consequences and Assessment

Observers suggested that the attacks appeared to have "significantly degraded" the Iranian navy's capability to conduct conventional attacks using its biggest warships. But, it was stressed that Tehran maintains the option to launch unconventional attacks at sea through the use of drones, small submarines and its so-called "clandestine network" of oil ships.

The overall scope of the damage caused to Iranian military facilities remains unclear, with hostilities said to be continuing. Photos also shows extensive damage to the command center of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in the city of Tehran.

Numerous of civilian buildings also seem to have been hit in the capital and across Iran since the conflict started. Reports of deaths from local officials indicate that hundreds of non-combatants may have been lost their lives in the bombardment.

As the situation develops, monitoring of satellite imagery will continue to track the evolving military landscape.