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A series of US and Israeli strikes has according to analysis sunk or crippled no fewer than eleven warships belonging to Iran since the weekend, new orbital imagery reveal, with rocket sites and nuclear sites also coming under fire.

Photographs of the southern Konarak naval military port and the Bandar Abbas facility, which overlooks the strategic Hormuz Strait and contains the headquarters of the Iran's naval force, depict black smoke pouring from several vessels on the start of the week.

Naval Fleet Sustained Substantial Damage

Included in the targets eliminated was the Makran, Iran's most sizable ship which had been used as a drone carrier. Satellite images displayed black smoke emanating from the vessel which had been docked at the Bandar Abbas base.

Intelligence assessments state that no fewer than a quintet of warships at Bandar Abbas were "hit or sunk". Photos of the south end of the harbor depict plumes ascending from the Makran, while two other vessels seem to be harmed, with one visibly ablaze.

Over at Konarak, images reveal several stricken ships, with analysis pointing to strikes against six vessels. Images from Monday also show that a number of buildings at the base have been destroyed.

"For decades the Tehran government has disrupted commercial vessels," a senior US military official declared. "At present, there is no Iranian ship operational in the Arabian Gulf, Hormuz Strait or Gulf of Oman, and we will persist."

A number of vessels reportedly destroyed may have been concealed in satellite images by haze or plumes, or hit in open waters, and have not been independently verified. Separate reports suggested that one Iranian ship was going down near Sri Lankan waters, leading to a search and rescue mission.

Rocket Bases and Atomic Facilities Attacked

The destruction of Iranian missile bases and the stopping enrichment activities were stated as other aims of the air campaign. Aerial imagery also revealed impacts against the southern Khorgu base and north-western Tabriz missile bases, and at the Konarak base, where weapons bunkers and fortifications were targeted.

At the Choqa Balk-e UAV facility west of the city of Kermanshah, widespread damage was observed to storage buildings, bunkers and UAV launching apparatus.

Damage was also noted at a surveillance station at the Zahedan airbase military airport in eastern parts of the country, near the border with neighboring nations.

Perhaps most notably, the latest wave of strikes have apparently hit facilities at Natanz – widely believed to be at the core of the country's nuclear programme. A global monitoring agency stated that the affected structures were used for access to the site's underground enrichment facility and that "no radiological consequence" was likely.

Wider Consequences and Analysis

Military analysts suggested that the attacks appeared to have "largely neutralized" the Iran's naval capacity to conduct conventional attacks using its biggest vessels. Nevertheless, it was emphasised that Iran retains the ability to launch irregular strikes at sea through the use of unmanned aerial vehicles, mini-submarines and its so-called "ghost fleet" of tankers.

The overall extent of the destruction caused to Iran's defense infrastructure has yet to be fully assessed, with attacks said to be persisting. Pictures also reveals widespread damage to the headquarters of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in the city of Tehran.

Numerous of non-military structures also appear to have been struck in the capital city and across Iran since the conflict escalated. Reports of deaths from local officials state that hundreds of civilians may have been lost their lives in the bombardment.

Amid continuing hostilities, analysis of aerial photographs will continue to track the evolving battlefield picture.