🔗 Share this article

Multiple US and Israeli attacks has allegedly destroyed or damaged a minimum of 11 warships belonging to Iran starting Saturday, freshly analyzed aerial photos reveal, with missile bases and enrichment plants also coming under fire.

Images of the southerly Konarak naval naval base and the Bandar Abbas installation, which overlooks the Strait of Hormuz and is home to the headquarters of the Iranian navy, show plumes of smoke rising from a number of ships on recent days.

Maritime Assets Sustained Major Damage

Included in the vessels destroyed was the Makran, the country's most sizable ship which had functioned as a drone carrier. Aerial imagery showed black smoke emanating from the ship which had been stationed at the Bandar Abbas naval base.

Intelligence reports suggest that at least a quintet of warships at Bandar Abbas were "hit or sunk". Photos of the southern end of the port reveal smoke emanating from the Makran, while another pair of ships are visibly impacted, with one of them clearly on fire.

At the Konarak base, images display multiple stricken vessels, with intelligence reports identifying strikes against six ships. Images taken on Monday also indicate that a number of buildings at the base have been leveled.

"For many years the Iranian regime has threatened commercial vessels," the head of US Central Command declared. "At present, there is no vessel from Iran at sea in the Persian Gulf, Hormuz Strait or Sea of Oman, and we will persist."

A number of ships allegedly destroyed may have been hidden in aerial photos by haze or plumes, or struck at sea, and have not been independently verified. Other accounts suggested that an Iranian vessel was foundering off the coast of Sri Lankan waters, prompting a search and rescue mission.

Missile Installations and Nuclear Locations Hit

Eliminating Iran's rocket sites and the prevention of nuclear weapons development were listed as further aims of the air campaign. Aerial imagery also revealed strikes on the southerly Khorgu base and north-western Tabriz missile facilities, and at the Konarak air air base, where rocket warehouses and bunkers were struck.

At the Choqa Balk-e drone drone base west of Kermanshah, widespread destruction was identified to sheds, underground facilities and UAV launching apparatus.

Damage was also seen at a radar installation at the Zahedan airbase in eastern Iran, close to the frontier with neighboring nations.

Perhaps most notably, the most recent series of strikes have reportedly hit facilities at the Natanz complex – considered at the center of the country's atomic program. The UN's atomic energy body said that the affected structures were used for access to the facility's below-ground nuclear plant and that "no nuclear fallout" was expected.

Broader Fallout and Analysis

Observers suggested that the attacks appeared to have "greatly reduced" the Iran's naval ability to carry out standard operations using its largest warships. However, it was emphasised that Iran retains the ability to launch asymmetric warfare at sea through the use of drones, midget subs and its so-called "clandestine network" of tankers.

The overall scope of the destruction caused to Iran's defense facilities has yet to be fully assessed, with attacks reportedly ongoing. Photos also reveals extensive damage to the main offices of the the IRGC in the capital Tehran.

Numerous of non-military structures also appear to have been damaged in the capital and throughout the country since the hostilities started. Toll estimates from inside Iran state that hundreds of civilians may have been fatally injured in the strikes.

Amid continuing hostilities, review of space-based data will persist to track the evolving scope of damage.