🔗 Share this article

Multiple joint strikes has allegedly sunk or crippled at least 11 Iran's navy ships starting the weekend, freshly analyzed orbital imagery reveal, with rocket sites and enrichment plants also being targeted.

Photographs of the southerly Konarak naval naval base and the Bandar Abbas port installation, which sits on the strategic Hormuz Strait and contains the headquarters of the Iranian navy, reveal smoke billowing from multiple ships on the start of the week.

Maritime Forces Sustained Significant Losses

Included in the targets eliminated was the IRINS Makran, Iran's largest naval vessel which had served as a drone carrier. Satellite images displayed thick smoke rising from the vessel which had been docked at the Bandar Abbas base.

Intelligence assessments suggest that no fewer than five ships at Bandar Abbas were "struck or destroyed". Pictures of the south end of the port reveal smoke rising from the Makran, while two other ships seem to be harmed, with one seen burning.

Over at the Konarak base, photos reveal numerous stricken ships, with expert review pointing to strikes against six vessels. Pictures from the start of the week also indicate that multiple buildings at the base have been destroyed.

"For a long time the Iran's leadership has threatened global maritime traffic," the head of US Central Command declared. "At present, there is no Iranian vessel at sea in the Persian Gulf, Strait of Hormuz or Gulf of Oman, and we will continue."

Some ships allegedly sunk may have been concealed in satellite images by weather conditions or battle damage, or struck at sea, and have not been conclusively proven. Separate reports suggested that a ship from Iran was going down off the coast of Sri Lankan waters, resulting in a search and rescue mission.

Missile Sites and Nuclear Locations Hit

Eliminating Iran's rocket sites and the hindering of atomic bomb programs were declared as further goals of the military strikes. Satellite images also showed impacts against the southern Khorgu base and north-western Tabriz missile facilities, and at the Konarak air air base, where missile storage facilities and fortifications were struck.

Over at the Choqa Balk-e drone base west of Kermanshah, extensive damage was observed to sheds, underground facilities and drone launch equipment.

Destruction was also observed at a surveillance station at the Zahedan airbase airbase in eastern parts of the country, near the frontier with neighboring nations.

Significantly, the new round of strikes have reportedly focused on installations at the Natanz complex – long said to be at the center of Iran's enrichment efforts. The UN's atomic energy body stated that the damaged structures were used for entry to the site's underground enrichment facility and that "no nuclear fallout" was anticipated.

Wider Fallout and Assessment

Defense experts stated that the offensive appeared to have "largely neutralized" the Iranian navy's capacity to sustain standard operations using its largest warships. But, it was noted that Tehran still has the capacity to launch unconventional attacks at sea through the use of drones, small submarines and its so-called "ghost fleet" of tankers.

The overall scope of the destruction caused to Iran's defense facilities is still uncertain, with attacks said to be continuing. Photos also shows considerable destruction to the main offices of the Iran's Revolutionary Guards in the city of Tehran.

Numerous of public facilities also seem to have been struck in the capital city and across the country since the conflict started. Toll estimates from inside Iran indicate that many hundreds of civilians may have been lost their lives in the attacks.

As the situation develops, analysis of space-based data will carry on to assess the unfolding military landscape.