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

Images of the southerly Konarak naval naval base and the Bandar Abbas port facility, which sits on the strategic Hormuz Strait and is home to the main command of the Iranian navy, reveal black smoke pouring from a number of ships on the start of the week.

Maritime Assets Incurred Substantial Losses

Among the vessels destroyed was the Makran, Iran's largest naval vessel which had served as a unmanned aerial vehicle platform. Orbital photos indicated black smoke rising from the vessel 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". Imagery of the southern end of the harbor show smoke emanating from the Makran, while two other ships are visibly impacted, with a single one visibly ablaze.

At the Konarak base, images reveal multiple damaged ships, with intelligence reports identifying strikes against a half-dozen warships. Images from the start of the week also show that multiple structures at the base have been demolished.

"For decades the Iranian regime has threatened international shipping," the head of US Central Command said. "Now, there is no Iranian ship at sea in the Persian Gulf, Strait of Hormuz or Sea of Oman, and we will persist."

A number of vessels allegedly destroyed may have been hidden in satellite images by haze or plumes, or struck at sea, and have not been independently verified. Additional information indicated that a ship from Iran was sinking near Sri Lankan territorial waters, prompting a rescue operation.

Missile Installations and Atomic Facilities Attacked

Neutralizing Iranian missile bases and the hindering of nuclear weapons development were declared as other aims of the offensive. Aerial imagery also depicted impacts against the southern Khorgu base and north-western Tabriz facilities, and at the Konarak air base, where missile storage facilities and fortifications were hit.

Over at the Choqa Balk-e drone unmanned aircraft site west of Kermanshah, significant destruction was identified to warehouses, bunkers and unmanned aircraft systems.

Damage was also seen at a radar installation at the Zahedan airbase in eastern Iran, close to the frontier with Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Perhaps most notably, the latest wave of attacks have reportedly focused on facilities at Natanz – considered at the heart of the country's nuclear programme. A global monitoring agency said that the damaged structures were used for entry to the site's below-ground enrichment facility and that "no nuclear fallout" was likely.

Wider Consequences and Assessment

Military analysts suggested that the strikes appeared to have "significantly degraded" the Iran's naval capability to conduct conventional attacks using its most significant warships. However, it was noted that Tehran maintains the capacity to launch unconventional attacks at sea through the use of unmanned aerial vehicles, mini-submarines and its so-called "clandestine network" of oil ships.

The overall extent of the damage caused to Iranian military infrastructure has yet to be fully assessed, with strikes said to be continuing. Pictures also reveals widespread damage to the headquarters 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 Iran after the hostilities started. Reports of deaths from local officials state that many hundreds of civilians may have been killed in the strikes.

As the situation develops, monitoring of space-based data will persist to track the changing military landscape.