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A series of US and Israeli airstrikes has according to analysis destroyed or damaged no fewer than eleven Iranian naval vessels starting the weekend, recently obtained orbital imagery reveal, with missile bases and nuclear sites also being targeted.

Photographs of the southerly Konarak naval base and the Bandar Abbas port facility, which overlooks the Strait of Hormuz and contains the main command of the Iran's naval force, depict plumes of smoke rising from a number of vessels on the start of the week.

Maritime Forces Incurred Substantial Losses

Among the ships sunk was the Makran, the country's biggest warship which had been used as a drone carrier. Orbital photos displayed thick smoke pouring from the ship which had been moored at the Bandar Abbas naval base.

Analytical evaluations suggest that no fewer than a quintet of warships at the port were "hit or sunk". Photos of the south end of the harbor show smoke rising from the Makran, while two other ships appear to be impacted, with a single one clearly on fire.

At the Konarak base, images show several harmed ships, with intelligence reports identifying impacts on six ships. Pictures taken on the start of the week also indicate that several facilities at the base have been demolished.

"For many years the Tehran government has disrupted international shipping," an American commander stated. "Today, there is not one Iranian vessel at sea in the Arabian Gulf, Hormuz Strait or Sea of Oman, and we will continue."

Some vessels reportedly sunk may have been obscured in aerial photos by weather conditions or battle damage, or targeted offshore, and have yet to be fully confirmed. Separate reports suggested that one Iranian ship was foundering off the coast of Sri Lankan territorial waters, prompting a rescue operation.

Missile Sites and Atomic Locations Hit

The destruction of Iranian missile bases and the stopping nuclear weapons development were declared as other goals of the military strikes. Aerial imagery also showed strikes on the southerly Khorgu base and north-western Tabriz missile facilities, and at the Konarak air base, where weapons bunkers and fortifications were targeted.

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

Impact was also noted at a surveillance station at the Zahedan airbase military airport in eastern parts of the country, near the frontier with Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Of particular note, the new round of strikes have reportedly focused on facilities at Natanz – widely believed to be at the core of the country's enrichment efforts. A global monitoring agency said that the affected structures were used for entry to the facility's underground nuclear plant and that "no nuclear fallout" was expected.

Wider Impact and Analysis

Defense experts suggested that the strikes appeared to have "significantly degraded" the Iran's naval capability to carry out standard operations using its most significant vessels. However, it was noted that Iran still has the option to launch unconventional attacks at sea through the use of drones, midget subs and its so-called "shadow fleet" of tankers.

The total scale of the damage caused to Iran's defense infrastructure remains unclear, with hostilities said to be continuing. Imagery also shows extensive damage to the headquarters of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in the city of Tehran.

A large number of public facilities also appear to have been hit in the capital city and across Iran after the conflict started. Toll estimates from ground sources state that a high number of non-combatants may have been killed in the bombardment.

With the conflict ongoing, monitoring of space-based data will continue to track the evolving scope of damage.