Space-Based Pictures Indicate Iranian Naval Forces and Atomic Sites Targeted by US-Israeli Attacks.

A wave of American and Israeli attacks has reportedly sunk or crippled a minimum of 11 Iranian naval vessels starting the weekend, recently obtained aerial photos demonstrate, with missile bases and atomic facilities also being targeted.

Pictures of the southern Konarak naval naval base and the Bandar Abbas port facility, which is located on the strategic Hormuz Strait and is home to the headquarters of the Iran's naval force, show smoke billowing from a number of ships on Monday and Tuesday.

Naval Fleet Sustained Major Damage

Among the targets eliminated was the IRINS Makran, Iran's biggest warship which had been used as a drone carrier. Satellite images indicated thick smoke rising from the vessel which had been moored at the Bandar Abbas naval base.

Intelligence assessments indicate that no fewer than five ships at Bandar Abbas were "damaged or eliminated". Pictures of the southern end of the harbor depict smoke emanating from the IRINS Makran, while another pair of ships seem to be damaged, with a single one clearly on fire.

Over at Konarak, photos display numerous damaged ships, with expert review identifying damage to six ships. Images from the start of the week also demonstrate that multiple facilities at the base have been demolished.

"For decades the Tehran government has harassed global maritime traffic," the head of US Central Command said. "Today, there is not one Iranian vessel underway in the Arabian Gulf, Strait of Hormuz or Sea of Oman, and we will not stop."

A number of ships reportedly sunk may have been obscured in aerial photos by haze or plumes, or hit in open waters, and have yet to be fully confirmed. Other accounts suggested that one Iranian ship was foundering near Sri Lanka's territorial waters, leading to a search and rescue mission.

Rocket Bases and Nuclear Facilities Targeted

The destruction of Tehran's launch facilities and the stopping enrichment activities were stated as additional aims of the military strikes. Satellite images also showed damage at the southern Khorgu and northwestern Tabriz missile bases, and at the Konarak air air base, where weapons bunkers and bunkers were hit.

Over at the Choqa Balk-e unmanned aircraft site to the west of Kermanshah, extensive damage was identified to storage buildings, bunkers and drone launch equipment.

Impact was also observed at a radar site at the Zahedan airbase airbase in eastern Iran, near the border with neighboring nations.

Perhaps most notably, the new round of attacks have apparently focused on facilities at Natanz – considered at the center of the country's enrichment efforts. The UN's atomic energy body said that the affected structures were used for access to the site's underground nuclear plant and that "no release of radioactive material" was anticipated.

Wider Impact and Assessment

Observers indicated that the strikes appeared to have "largely neutralized" the Iranian navy's capacity to sustain traditional warfare using its most significant warships. Nevertheless, it was noted that Tehran retains the option to launch asymmetric warfare at sea through the use of unmanned aerial vehicles, small submarines and its so-called "shadow fleet" of tankers.

The total scope of the destruction caused to Iran's defense infrastructure remains unclear, with hostilities reportedly ongoing. Imagery also reveals widespread destruction to the headquarters of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in the city of Tehran.

Numerous of civilian buildings also are reported to have been hit in the capital city and throughout Iran since the conflict started. Reports of deaths from ground sources state that hundreds of civilians may have been fatally injured in the strikes.

With the conflict ongoing, analysis of satellite imagery will carry on to track the unfolding military landscape.