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A series of American and Israeli strikes has reportedly sunk or crippled at least eleven warships belonging to Iran since Saturday, recently obtained orbital imagery demonstrate, with launch facilities and nuclear sites also sustaining hits.

Photographs of the southerly Konarak naval naval base and the Bandar Abbas port installation, which sits on the Strait of Hormuz and contains the headquarters of the Iran's naval force, show smoke billowing from a number of ships on Monday and Tuesday.

Maritime Forces Sustained Major Losses

Included in the ships sunk was the IRINS Makran, Iran's biggest warship which had served as a unmanned aerial vehicle platform. Aerial imagery indicated dark plumes emanating from the ship which had been docked at the Bandar Abbas naval base.

Analytical assessments indicate that at least a quintet of warships at Bandar Abbas were "struck or destroyed". Photos of the south end of the port show smoke rising from the Makran, while another pair of ships seem to be impacted, with one of them clearly on fire.

At Konarak, photos show multiple damaged vessels, with analysis pointing to strikes against a half-dozen warships. Pictures taken on Monday also show that a number of buildings at the base have been demolished.

"For many years the Iran's leadership has harassed international shipping," the head of US Central Command said. "At present, there is not a single Iranian ship operational in the Arabian Gulf, Hormuz Strait or Sea of Oman, and we will persist."

Some ships reportedly sunk may have been concealed in aerial photos by haze or plumes, or targeted offshore, and have not been conclusively proven. Other accounts suggested that an Iranian vessel was going down near Sri Lankan waters, prompting a rescue operation.

Missile Sites and Nuclear Facilities Targeted

Eliminating Iranian missile bases and the prevention of enrichment activities were declared as further aims of the air campaign. Satellite images also revealed impacts against the southern Khorgu and northwestern Tabriz missile facilities, and at the Konarak air base, where missile storage facilities and bunkers were hit.

At the Choqa Balk-e UAV facility to the west of Kermanshah, significant destruction was seen to sheds, bunkers and UAV launching apparatus.

Damage was also observed at a surveillance station at the Zahedan airbase in eastern parts of the country, near the frontier with neighboring nations.

Significantly, the latest wave of strikes have reportedly hit sites at Natanz – long said to be at the core of Iran's nuclear programme. The UN's atomic energy body stated that the damaged buildings were used for access to the facility's underground nuclear plant and that "no nuclear fallout" was expected.

Wider Consequences and Analysis

Defense experts suggested that the strikes appeared to have "greatly reduced" the Iranian navy's capability to conduct traditional warfare using its largest warships. Nevertheless, it was noted that Iran maintains the option to launch unconventional attacks at sea through the use of drones, mini-submarines and its so-called "clandestine network" of oil ships.

The total extent of the destruction caused to Iran's defense facilities remains unclear, with hostilities reportedly continuing. Photos also shows widespread destruction to the headquarters of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in the capital Tehran.

Numerous of public facilities also are reported to have been hit in the capital city and throughout the country after the conflict escalated. Toll estimates from inside Iran state that a high number of civilians may have been fatally injured in the bombardment.

As the situation develops, monitoring of aerial photographs will carry on to track the unfolding scope of damage.