🔗 Share this article

A series of American and Israeli strikes has allegedly sunk or crippled a minimum of eleven warships belonging to Iran starting the weekend, recently obtained aerial photos demonstrate, with rocket sites and enrichment plants also sustaining hits.

Pictures of the southerly Konarak naval base and the Bandar Abbas installation, which sits on the Strait of Hormuz and contains the main command of the Iran's naval force, depict black smoke pouring from several warships on Monday and Tuesday.

Maritime Forces Incurred Major Damage

Among the targets eliminated was the IRINS Makran, the country's most sizable ship which had been used as a drone carrier. Aerial imagery displayed black smoke rising from the ship which had been moored at the Bandar Abbas base.

Intelligence reports state that no fewer than five vessels at the port were "hit or sunk". Photos of the southern end of the port reveal smoke emanating from the Makran, while additional vessels seem to be impacted, with one of them seen burning.

At the Konarak base, images display multiple damaged ships, with expert review identifying impacts on a half-dozen warships. Images taken on Monday also show that a number of structures at the base have been leveled.

"For many years the Iranian regime has disrupted international shipping," the head of US Central Command declared. "Now, there is not one vessel from Iran underway in the Arabian Gulf, Strait of Hormuz or Sea of Oman, and we will continue."

Some ships allegedly destroyed may have been obscured in aerial photos by cloud or smoke, or hit in open waters, and have not been conclusively proven. Additional information stated that a ship from Iran was foundering off the coast of Sri Lanka's waters, resulting in a search and rescue mission.

Missile Installations and Nuclear Facilities Hit

Eliminating Tehran's launch facilities and the hindering of atomic bomb programs were declared as other goals of the air campaign. Satellite images also showed impacts against the southern Khorgu and northwestern Tabriz missile bases, and at the Konarak air base, where rocket warehouses and bunkers were struck.

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

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

Perhaps most notably, the latest wave of attacks have reportedly hit sites at the Natanz complex – long said to be at the core of Iran's nuclear programme. An international watchdog said that the damaged buildings were used for entry to the facility's below-ground nuclear plant and that "no nuclear fallout" was expected.

Broader Consequences and Assessment

Observers stated that the strikes appeared to have "greatly reduced" the Iranian navy's capability to carry out standard operations using its largest vessels. But, it was noted that Iran still has the capacity to launch asymmetric warfare at sea through the use of unmanned aerial vehicles, midget subs and its so-called "shadow fleet" of tankers.

The full scale of the damage caused to Iranian military infrastructure remains unclear, with hostilities said to be ongoing. Photos also reveals widespread damage to the command center of the Iran's Revolutionary Guards in the city of Tehran.

Numerous of non-military structures also appear to have been hit in the capital city and throughout the country after the fighting began. Casualty figures from inside Iran state that a high number of non-combatants may have been fatally injured in the attacks.

As the situation develops, analysis of aerial photographs will carry on to track the evolving military landscape.