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Multiple US and Israeli airstrikes has reportedly sunk or crippled no fewer than eleven warships belonging to Iran starting the weekend, recently obtained aerial photos show, with rocket sites and atomic facilities also being targeted.

Photographs of the southerly Konarak naval base and the Bandar Abbas port installation, which is located on the Strait of Hormuz and houses the headquarters of the Iran's naval force, show plumes of smoke rising from multiple vessels on the start of the week.

Naval Assets Incurred Major Losses

Included in the vessels destroyed was the IRINS Makran, the country's biggest warship which had functioned as a drone carrier. Satellite images showed thick smoke rising from the vessel which had been stationed at the Bandar Abbas naval base.

Intelligence assessments indicate that no fewer than five vessels at the port were "hit or sunk". Imagery of the south end of the harbor reveal smoke emanating from the IRINS Makran, while another pair of vessels are visibly impacted, with one visibly ablaze.

Over at the Konarak base, images display numerous harmed vessels, with intelligence reports pointing to damage to a half-dozen warships. Photos taken on the start of the week also demonstrate that a number of buildings at the installation have been leveled.

"For many years the Tehran government has harassed global maritime traffic," the head of US Central Command said. "Today, there is no vessel from Iran underway in the Persian Gulf, Hormuz Strait or Gulf of Oman, and we will persist."

Some ships reportedly destroyed may have been hidden in satellite images by weather conditions or battle damage, or hit in open waters, and have not been conclusively proven. Separate reports indicated that an Iranian vessel was going down off the coast of Sri Lankan waters, leading to a rescue operation.

Rocket Sites and Atomic Facilities Hit

The destruction of Iranian missile bases and the hindering of enrichment activities were declared as additional goals of the military strikes. Aerial imagery also revealed impacts against the southerly Khorgu base and northwestern Tabriz facilities, and at the Konarak air base, where missile storage facilities and bunkers were struck.

Over at the Choqa Balk-e drone drone base to the west of Kermanshah, significant damage was seen to sheds, underground facilities and unmanned aircraft systems.

Impact was also observed at a radar installation at the Zahedan airbase airbase in eastern parts of the country, close to the border with neighboring nations.

Perhaps most notably, the new round of attacks have apparently hit facilities at the Natanz complex – widely believed to be at the core of Iran's nuclear programme. An international watchdog commented that the affected buildings were used for entry to the facility's below-ground nuclear plant and that "no radiological consequence" was expected.

Wider Consequences and Analysis

Observers stated that the offensive appeared to have "significantly degraded" the Iranian navy's capability to sustain standard operations using its most significant warships. But, it was emphasised that Iran still has the ability to launch unconventional attacks at sea through the use of unmanned aerial vehicles, midget subs and its so-called "clandestine network" of tankers.

The total scale of the destruction caused to Iranian military facilities has yet to be fully assessed, with attacks said to be ongoing. Photos also indicates widespread destruction to the headquarters of the the IRGC in the city of Tehran.

A large number of public facilities also appear to have been hit in the capital and throughout the country after the fighting escalated. Casualty figures from ground sources indicate that hundreds of non-combatants may have been fatally injured in the strikes.

With the conflict ongoing, monitoring of satellite imagery will continue to assess the changing battlefield picture.