A wave of American and Israeli strikes has reportedly eliminated or harmed at least 11 warships belonging to Iran starting the weekend, freshly analyzed satellite images reveal, with launch facilities and nuclear sites also coming under fire.
Photographs of the southerly Konarak naval base and the Bandar Abbas facility, which overlooks the Strait of Hormuz and houses the main command of the Iran's naval force, reveal black smoke pouring from a number of vessels on the start of the week.
Among the ships sunk was the Makran, Iran's biggest warship which had functioned as a drone carrier. Satellite images showed dark plumes emanating from the ship which had been moored at the Bandar Abbas base.
Intelligence assessments state that no fewer than a quintet of warships at the port were "struck or destroyed". Pictures of the southern end of the harbor show smoke rising from the IRINS Makran, while two other vessels are visibly impacted, with one visibly ablaze.
Over at the Konarak base, images show several harmed vessels, with expert review identifying impacts on six vessels. Images taken on Monday also show that several buildings at the base have been destroyed.
"For decades the Iran's leadership has harassed commercial vessels," a senior US military official said. "At present, there is not a single Iranian ship at sea in the Arabian Gulf, Hormuz Strait or Sea of Oman, and we will continue."
Some ships allegedly destroyed may have been obscured in aerial photos by haze or plumes, or targeted offshore, and have not been conclusively proven. Separate reports stated that a ship from Iran was sinking off the coast of Sri Lanka's territorial waters, prompting a search and rescue mission.
Neutralizing Iranian missile bases and the prevention of enrichment activities were listed as other objectives of the offensive. Satellite images also depicted strikes on the southerly Khorgu and north-western Tabriz missile missile bases, and at the Konarak air base, where missile storage facilities and fortifications were targeted.
Over at the Choqa Balk-e UAV facility west of Kermanshah, widespread damage was identified to storage buildings, underground facilities and UAV launching apparatus.
Damage was also seen at a radar site at the Zahedan airbase military airport in eastern Iran, near the border with Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Significantly, the latest wave of attacks have reportedly hit sites at Natanz – considered at the heart of the country's enrichment efforts. An international watchdog commented that the affected buildings were used for entry to the site's underground nuclear plant and that "no release of radioactive material" was expected.
Military analysts stated that the offensive appeared to have "largely neutralized" the Iran's naval capacity to conduct traditional warfare using its biggest vessels. But, it was stressed that Iran maintains the ability to launch irregular strikes at sea through the use of unmanned aerial vehicles, small submarines and its so-called "ghost fleet" of oil ships.
The overall scale of the damage caused to Iranian military infrastructure remains unclear, with hostilities said to be ongoing. Pictures also indicates widespread damage to the command center of the the IRGC in the capital Tehran.
A significant number of civilian buildings also appear to have been struck in the capital and across Iran since the conflict started. Casualty figures from inside Iran indicate that hundreds of civilians may have been killed in the bombardment.
Amid continuing hostilities, monitoring of satellite imagery will carry on to document the evolving scope of damage.
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