Space-Based Pictures Reveal Iranian Navy and Nuclear Facilities Hit by Joint US and Israeli Airstrikes.

A wave of American and Israeli attacks has allegedly eliminated or harmed no fewer than eleven warships belonging to Iran starting the weekend, new aerial photos demonstrate, with missile bases and nuclear sites also being targeted.

Pictures of the southern Konarak naval base and the Bandar Abbas port installation, which overlooks the strategic Hormuz Strait and contains the main command of the Iranian navy, reveal plumes of smoke rising from a number of vessels on recent days.

Maritime Fleet Incurred Major Losses

Among the targets eliminated was the Makran, the country's largest naval vessel which had served as a drone carrier. Aerial imagery displayed thick smoke emanating from the ship which had been docked at the Bandar Abbas naval base.

Intelligence reports suggest that no fewer than five vessels at the port were "damaged or eliminated". Pictures of the southern part of the harbor reveal plumes ascending from the IRINS Makran, while two other ships are visibly damaged, with a single one seen burning.

Over at Konarak, photos show numerous harmed vessels, with intelligence reports identifying damage to six vessels. Photos taken on the start of the week also indicate that a number of structures at the base have been demolished.

"For decades the Tehran government has disrupted global maritime traffic," a senior US military official stated. "Today, there is not a single vessel from Iran operational in the Arabian Gulf, Hormuz Strait or Sea of Oman, and we will persist."

Some vessels reportedly sunk may have been hidden in satellite images by cloud or smoke, or struck at sea, and have yet to be fully confirmed. Separate reports indicated that one Iranian ship was going down near Sri Lanka's territorial waters, resulting in a search and rescue mission.

Rocket Sites and Nuclear Locations Targeted

The destruction of Iran's rocket sites and the stopping atomic bomb programs were declared as further aims of the military strikes. Aerial imagery also showed impacts against the southern Khorgu base and north-western Tabriz missile bases, and at the Konarak air air base, where missile storage facilities and bunkers were struck.

Over at the Choqa Balk-e unmanned aircraft site west of the city of Kermanshah, significant damage was seen to warehouses, underground facilities and unmanned aircraft systems.

Impact was also seen at a radar installation at the Zahedan airbase airbase in eastern parts of the country, near the frontier with neighboring nations.

Significantly, the most recent series of attacks have apparently focused on sites at Natanz – considered at the center of Iran's atomic program. The UN's atomic energy body stated that the damaged structures were used for access to the site's below-ground nuclear plant and that "no release of radioactive material" was likely.

Broader Consequences and Assessment

Military analysts indicated that the strikes appeared to have "significantly degraded" the Iran's naval capacity to conduct standard operations using its biggest vessels. But, it was emphasised that Iran maintains the ability to launch irregular strikes at sea through the use of drones, small submarines and its so-called "shadow fleet" of tankers.

The total extent of the destruction caused to Iranian military infrastructure has yet to be fully assessed, with attacks said to be continuing. Imagery also reveals extensive damage to the command center of the the IRGC in the capital Tehran.

A large number of non-military structures also appear to have been struck in the capital city and throughout the country after the fighting escalated. Toll estimates from local officials state that many hundreds of civilians may have been fatally injured in the bombardment.

With the conflict ongoing, analysis of aerial photographs will persist to track the evolving military landscape.