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A series of joint attacks has reportedly sunk or crippled at least eleven warships belonging to Iran starting the weekend, recently obtained aerial photos demonstrate, with rocket sites and atomic facilities also being targeted.

Photographs of the southerly Konarak naval base and the Bandar Abbas port installation, which sits on the strategic Hormuz Strait and is home to the main command of the Iran's naval force, reveal smoke billowing from several ships on recent days.

Naval Fleet Sustained Major Damage

Among the vessels destroyed was the Makran, the country's most sizable ship which had served as a drone carrier. Aerial imagery showed black smoke pouring from the vessel which had been stationed at the Bandar Abbas base.

Analytical assessments indicate that no fewer than five vessels at the port were "hit or sunk". Imagery of the southern part of the harbor show plumes ascending from the Makran, while another pair of vessels are visibly impacted, with a single one clearly on fire.

Over at Konarak, images reveal multiple damaged vessels, with analysis identifying damage to a half-dozen warships. Pictures taken on the start of the week also indicate that multiple buildings at the installation have been leveled.

"For decades the Tehran government has disrupted international shipping," the head of US Central Command declared. "At present, there is not a single Iranian vessel at sea in the Arabian Gulf, Strait of Hormuz or Gulf of Oman, and we will continue."

A number of vessels reportedly destroyed 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 a ship from Iran was going down near Sri Lanka's territorial waters, leading to a search and rescue mission.

Rocket Installations and Atomic Facilities Targeted

Neutralizing Tehran's launch facilities and the prevention of nuclear weapons development were declared as further aims of the offensive. Aerial imagery also showed strikes on the southerly Khorgu and north-western Tabriz missile bases, and at the Konarak base, where missile storage facilities and bunkers were targeted.

At the Choqa Balk-e drone unmanned aircraft site to the west of the city of Kermanshah, widespread destruction was seen to sheds, bunkers and UAV launching apparatus.

Destruction was also observed at a surveillance station at the Zahedan military airport in eastern Iran, near the frontier with neighboring nations.

Significantly, the new round of attacks have apparently targeted sites at Natanz – considered at the heart of Iran's atomic program. The UN's atomic energy body said that the damaged structures were used for access to the facility's below-ground nuclear plant and that "no radiological consequence" was likely.

Wider Consequences and Analysis

Military analysts indicated that the attacks appeared to have "significantly degraded" the Iran's naval capability to carry out conventional attacks using its most significant warships. Nevertheless, it was emphasised that Iran retains the capacity to launch irregular strikes at sea through the use of drones, small submarines and its so-called "clandestine network" of oil ships.

The overall scope of the damage caused to Iranian military facilities has yet to be fully assessed, with hostilities reportedly continuing. Imagery also indicates widespread destruction to the headquarters of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in the city of Tehran.

A large number of civilian buildings also appear to have been hit in the capital and across Iran after the conflict escalated. Casualty figures from local officials indicate that hundreds of non-combatants may have been fatally injured in the attacks.

Amid continuing hostilities, review of space-based data will persist to track the evolving military landscape.