Satellite images showing Iranian nuclear and navy facilities hit by US and Israeli strikes

Satellite image ©2026 Vantor A wave of attacks by the United States and Israel has destroyed or damaged at least 11 Iranian Navy ships since Saturday (28/2), according to new satellite images analyzed by BBC Verify, the BBC’s data and image verification service. The attacks also hit missile bases and nuclear power plants in Iran. Images from the Konarak naval base, in the southeast of the country, and the Bandar Abbas unit (located in the Strait of Hormuz and home to the Iranian navy headquarters) show smoke coming from several ships on Monday (2/3) and Tuesday (3/3). US President Donald Trump declared on Monday that the United States was “annihilating” the Iranian navy. He lists the destruction of the country’s naval force as one of the three main American objectives in Iran. See the videos that are trending on g1 His Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, confirmed that a United States submarine fired at an Iranian warship in the Indian Ocean, on Wednesday (4/3). Among the ships destroyed was the IRINS Makran, the largest vessel in the Iranian navy. He had been employed to transport drones. Satellite images show black smoke rising from the ship, which was docked at the Bandar Abbas base. Maritime security firm Vanguard says the attacks also destroyed the Iranian ships IRIS Bayandor, IRIS Naghdi and IRIS Jamaran. The company further stated that the IRIS Shahid Bagheri, a state-of-the-art drone transport ship launched by Iran last year, was sunk. But BBC Verify was unable to independently confirm this information. Analysts from the intelligence firm Maiar stated that at least five ships were “hit or sunk” in Bandar Abbas. Satellite images of the southern end of the port show smoke billowing from the Makran and two other apparently damaged ships, one of them visibly on fire. Smoke rising from ship IRINS Makran Planet Labs PBC, March 2 In Konarak, images show several damaged ships. Maiar told BBC Verify that it had identified damage to six vessels. Ship smoke at Koranak naval base ©2026 Vantor Photos taken on Monday show that several buildings at the naval base were also destroyed. Damage to Koranak naval base ©2026 Vantor The head of the American Central Command (Centcom), which oversees United States military operations in the Middle East, said 17 Iranian vessels were destroyed, including its “main operational submarine.” Admiral Brad Cooper highlighted, in a video posted on X, that “for decades, the Iranian regime has disrupted international navigation.” “Today, there is not a single Iranian ship sailing in the Arabian Gulf, the Strait of Hormuz or the Gulf of Oman and we will not stop.” Some of the ships believed to have been destroyed may have been struck at sea or obscured in satellite images by clouds or smoke. Therefore, they have not been independently verified by BBC Verify. Sri Lankan authorities said on Wednesday (4/3) that an Iranian ship was sinking near their waters and that the country had launched a rescue operation. There were at that time 140 people missing. US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth later claimed that an American submarine hit an Iranian ship with a torpedo in the Indian Ocean. Former head of the Irish military, Mark Mellett, told BBC Verify that the American and Israeli strikes had apparently “largely neutralized or at least suppressed” the Iranian navy’s ability to sustain conventional strikes using its largest warships. But he highlights that Iran still has the ability to launch unconventional attacks at sea, using drones, mini-submarines and ghost ships (a network of oil tankers that operate outside maritime laws, using a series of methods to hide their identities). Maiar analysts also told BBC Verify that Tehran may turn to smaller fast attack ships armed with anti-ship missiles in the coming days, while larger warships continue to come under attack by US and Israeli forces. Iran also holds the ability to disrupt commercial shipping. Mellet highlights that the country could lay mines on key transportation routes in the Strait of Hormuz or launch drone attacks on oil tankers and key ports. Images show damage to missile facilities In addition to the “annihilation” of the Iranian navy, Trump mentioned the destruction of missile bases and the prevention of the development of nuclear weapons as the other two objectives of the American air campaign in Iran. In his statement on Tuesday (3/3) evening, Cooper said that the United States strikes had destroyed hundreds of air defense facilities, ballistic missiles and drones. Satellite images also showed damage to missile bases in Khorgu, in southern Iran, and Tabriz, in the northwest of the country. And at Konarak air base, bunkers and missile storage facilities were hit. At the Choqa Balk-e drone base (near the city of Kermanshah in the west of the country), extensive damage was observed to warehouses, bunkers and drone launching equipment. Damage caused by attacks on Choqa Balk-e base ©2026 Vantor Satellite images also show destruction to a radar installation at Zahedan air base in eastern Iran, near the border with Afghanistan and Pakistan Iranian and which were also hit by the United States last year. After the 2025 attacks, Iran denied Trump’s claims that the United States had “obliterated” nuclear facilities. The International Atomic Energy Agency said the buildings were used for pedestrian and vehicular access to the site’s underground enrichment plant and that “no radiological consequences” were expected as a result of the damage. The full scale of the damage caused to Iranian military installations is still unknown. The attacks continued on Tuesday night (3/3), with Israel attacking what it calls the “security headquarters” in Iran’s capital, Tehran. The Institute for the Study of War think tank stated that the “reduction in Iranian missile attacks against Israel and the United Arab Emirates is a strong indication that attempts to destroy ballistic missile launchers have met with considerable success.” The images show extensive damage to the headquarters of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IGRG). Images captured by intelligence firm Vantor on March 3 show damage to at least six structures. There are also signs of damage at the National Defense University and the Ministry of Intelligence. Former Centcom chief Joseph Vettel told the BBC that many attacks targeted Iran’s “internal security apparatus.” They sought to undermine “the regime’s ability to control the population.” Several civil buildings have also apparently been hit in Tehran and across the country since the conflict began on February 28. At least 160 people, including children, died when a school was hit in Minab, in southern Iran, according to Iranian authorities. The US-based news agency Human Rights Activists (HRANA) claims that 1,097 civilians have been killed since Saturday (28/2). BBC Verify will continue to monitor satellite imagery as the conflict unfolds.

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