🔗 Share this article

Multiple American and Israeli airstrikes has allegedly sunk or crippled no fewer than 11 Iranian naval vessels starting Saturday, recently obtained aerial photos demonstrate, with rocket sites and enrichment plants also being targeted.

Photographs of the southern Konarak military port and the Bandar Abbas port facility, which is located on the Strait of Hormuz and contains the headquarters of the Iranian navy, show smoke billowing from multiple vessels on recent days.

Naval Fleet Sustained Significant Damage

Included in the vessels destroyed was the Makran, Iran's largest naval vessel which had functioned as a unmanned aerial vehicle platform. Satellite images showed black smoke emanating from the vessel which had been docked at the Bandar Abbas naval base.

Analytical reports suggest that at least a quintet of warships at the port were "struck or destroyed". Photos of the southern part of the harbor reveal plumes ascending from the IRINS Makran, while two other ships seem to be impacted, with a single one seen burning.

Over at the Konarak base, photos show numerous harmed ships, with expert review identifying impacts on a half-dozen warships. Images from Monday also indicate that several structures at the base have been demolished.

"For many years the Iran's leadership has harassed global maritime traffic," the head of US Central Command declared. "Today, there is no Iranian vessel at sea in the Arabian Gulf, Strait of Hormuz or Gulf of Oman, and we will continue."

Some ships reportedly destroyed may have been obscured in satellite images by cloud or smoke, or struck at sea, and have not been conclusively proven. Other accounts suggested that a ship from Iran was foundering off the coast of Sri Lankan territorial waters, prompting a rescue operation.

Rocket Bases and Nuclear Locations Targeted

Neutralizing Tehran's launch facilities and the prevention of atomic bomb programs were declared as further objectives of the air campaign. Aerial imagery also revealed damage at the southerly Khorgu base and northwestern Tabriz missile facilities, and at the Konarak air base, where missile storage facilities and bunkers were hit.

Over at the Choqa Balk-e drone unmanned aircraft site west of the city of Kermanshah, widespread destruction was identified to warehouses, bunkers and drone launch equipment.

Damage was also noted at a radar site at the Zahedan airbase in eastern Iran, near the frontier with Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Significantly, the latest wave of attacks have reportedly focused on sites at the Natanz complex – long said to be at the center of the country's atomic program. A global monitoring agency commented that the damaged buildings were used for access to the facility's below-ground nuclear plant and that "no radiological consequence" was likely.

Wider Fallout and Assessment

Observers indicated that the offensive appeared to have "greatly reduced" the Iran's naval ability to conduct standard operations using its most significant warships. Nevertheless, it was stressed that Tehran maintains the ability to launch unconventional attacks at sea through the use of drones, mini-submarines and its so-called "ghost fleet" of tankers.

The overall scope of the damage caused to Iranian military infrastructure has yet to be fully assessed, with hostilities said to be continuing. Pictures also indicates widespread destruction to the headquarters of the Iran's Revolutionary Guards in the capital Tehran.

Numerous of non-military structures also seem to have been struck in the capital city and throughout Iran after the conflict began. Reports of deaths from local officials suggest that hundreds of non-combatants may have been lost their lives in the strikes.

As the situation develops, review of satellite imagery will persist to document the changing battlefield picture.