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A wave of US and Israeli airstrikes has according to analysis sunk or crippled a minimum of eleven Iranian naval vessels since the weekend, new aerial photos demonstrate, with rocket sites and nuclear sites also being targeted.

Photographs of the southerly Konarak naval military port and the Bandar Abbas facility, which is located on the Strait of Hormuz and houses the headquarters of the Iran's naval force, depict smoke billowing from a number of vessels on recent days.

Maritime Assets Incurred Substantial Damage

Included in the targets eliminated was the Makran, Iran's biggest warship which had been used as a unmanned aerial vehicle platform. Orbital photos displayed dark plumes emanating from the vessel which had been docked at the Bandar Abbas base.

Intelligence evaluations indicate that at least five vessels at the port were "struck or destroyed". Photos of the south end of the harbor show smoke rising from the IRINS Makran, while another pair of vessels are visibly harmed, with one of them visibly ablaze.

Over at Konarak, images reveal numerous stricken ships, with analysis pointing to impacts on six ships. Photos from the start of the week also indicate that a number of facilities at the base have been destroyed.

"For many years the Iranian regime has disrupted international shipping," the head of US Central Command stated. "At present, there is not a single Iranian vessel operational in the Persian Gulf, Hormuz Strait or Gulf of Oman, and we will persist."

A number of ships allegedly destroyed may have been obscured in aerial photos by haze or plumes, or targeted offshore, and have not been independently verified. Other accounts suggested that a ship from Iran was going down off the coast of Sri Lankan waters, resulting in a rescue operation.

Missile Bases and Nuclear Facilities Attacked

Eliminating Iranian missile bases and the hindering of atomic bomb programs were stated as further aims of the military strikes. Aerial imagery also showed strikes on the southerly Khorgu base and north-western Tabriz facilities, and at the Konarak air base, where rocket warehouses and bunkers were targeted.

At the Choqa Balk-e drone unmanned aircraft site west of the city of Kermanshah, extensive destruction was observed to warehouses, bunkers and unmanned aircraft systems.

Damage was also noted at a radar installation at the Zahedan airbase airbase in eastern Iran, close to the frontier with neighboring nations.

Of particular note, the most recent series of attacks have reportedly hit installations at Natanz – long said to be at the core of Iran's atomic program. The UN's atomic energy body said that the affected buildings were used for entry to the site's below-ground nuclear plant and that "no radiological consequence" was expected.

Wider Impact and Analysis

Observers indicated that the strikes appeared to have "greatly reduced" the Iran's naval capacity to conduct standard operations using its largest warships. But, it was emphasised that Iran retains the ability to launch asymmetric warfare at sea through the use of unmanned aerial vehicles, midget subs and its so-called "ghost fleet" of tankers.

The overall scale of the damage caused to Iran's defense infrastructure has yet to be fully assessed, with strikes reportedly persisting. Photos also shows extensive damage to the main offices of the Iran's Revolutionary Guards in the city of Tehran.

Numerous of civilian buildings also appear to have been damaged in the capital city and throughout the country after the conflict started. Reports of deaths from inside Iran suggest that a high number of civilians may have been fatally injured in the strikes.

As the situation develops, monitoring of aerial photographs will carry on to assess the evolving battlefield picture.