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Multiple American and Israeli strikes has according to analysis sunk or crippled at least eleven warships belonging to Iran starting the weekend, recently obtained satellite images reveal, with missile bases and nuclear sites also being targeted.

Images of the southern Konarak naval military port and the Bandar Abbas port facility, which overlooks the strategic Hormuz Strait and houses the headquarters of the Iranian navy, show plumes of smoke rising from several ships on Monday and Tuesday.

Naval Forces Incurred Major Damage

Among the targets eliminated was the Makran, Iran's largest naval vessel which had served as a unmanned aerial vehicle platform. Orbital photos indicated black smoke pouring from the vessel which had been docked at the Bandar Abbas base.

Intelligence evaluations suggest that at least five vessels at the port were "hit or sunk". Pictures of the southern part of the port show smoke rising from the IRINS Makran, while another pair of ships seem to be damaged, with one of them visibly ablaze.

Over at the Konarak base, photos reveal several damaged vessels, with expert review identifying impacts on six ships. Images taken on the start of the week also show that multiple facilities at the installation have been destroyed.

"For a long time the Iranian regime has threatened commercial vessels," the head of US Central Command stated. "At present, there is not a single Iranian ship underway in the Arabian Gulf, Strait of Hormuz or Sea of Oman, and we will persist."

Some vessels reportedly sunk may have been concealed in satellite images by cloud or smoke, or targeted offshore, and have not been conclusively proven. Additional information suggested that one Iranian ship was sinking off the coast of Sri Lankan waters, resulting in a search and rescue mission.

Missile Installations and Atomic Locations Attacked

Eliminating Tehran's launch facilities and the hindering of atomic bomb programs were declared as further aims of the military strikes. Satellite images also showed strikes on the southerly Khorgu and northwestern Tabriz missile bases, and at the Konarak air air base, where missile storage facilities and fortifications were hit.

At the Choqa Balk-e drone drone base to the west of the city of Kermanshah, significant damage was observed to storage buildings, underground facilities and unmanned aircraft systems.

Damage was also observed at a radar installation at the Zahedan military airport in eastern parts of the country, close to the frontier with Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Perhaps most notably, the most recent series of attacks have apparently targeted facilities at Natanz – long said to be at the heart of the country's enrichment efforts. A global monitoring agency commented that the affected buildings were used for entry to the site's below-ground nuclear plant and that "no release of radioactive material" was likely.

Broader Impact and Assessment

Defense experts suggested that the strikes appeared to have "greatly reduced" the Iran's naval capability to carry out traditional warfare using its most significant vessels. But, it was emphasised that Tehran retains the ability to launch asymmetric warfare at sea through the use of drones, mini-submarines and its so-called "ghost fleet" of tankers.

The overall scale of the destruction caused to Iran's defense facilities has yet to be fully assessed, with hostilities reportedly continuing. Imagery also shows widespread destruction to the headquarters of the Iran's Revolutionary Guards in the city of Tehran.

Numerous of public facilities also seem to have been damaged in the capital and throughout Iran after the fighting began. Casualty figures from local officials suggest that a high number of non-combatants may have been fatally injured in the attacks.

Amid continuing hostilities, monitoring of aerial photographs will persist to track the evolving battlefield picture.