Aerial Imagery Indicate Iranian Navy and Nuclear Facilities Hit by US-Israeli Military Action.

A series of US and Israeli attacks has allegedly sunk or crippled no fewer than 11 Iran's navy ships since Saturday, new aerial photos demonstrate, with launch facilities and nuclear sites also coming under fire.

Pictures of the southern Konarak military port and the Bandar Abbas facility, which is located on the strategic Hormuz Strait and houses the main command of the Iranian navy, show black smoke pouring from a number of ships on the start of the week.

Maritime Forces Incurred Substantial Losses

Among the vessels destroyed was the Makran, Iran's largest naval vessel which had served as a drone carrier. Orbital photos showed black smoke pouring from the vessel which had been stationed at the Bandar Abbas naval base.

Intelligence evaluations indicate that no fewer than five vessels at the port were "struck or destroyed". Photos of the southern end of the harbor depict smoke emanating from the Makran, while another pair of ships appear to be damaged, with one of them visibly ablaze.

At the Konarak base, images show multiple damaged vessels, with intelligence reports identifying impacts on six ships. Photos taken on Monday also demonstrate that multiple structures at the installation have been demolished.

"For a long time the Iran's leadership has threatened international shipping," an American commander stated. "Today, there is no Iranian vessel underway in the Arabian Gulf, Strait of Hormuz or Sea of Oman, and we will not stop."

Some ships allegedly sunk may have been hidden in aerial photos by cloud or smoke, or targeted offshore, and have not been conclusively proven. Additional information indicated that one Iranian ship was foundering near Sri Lanka's waters, resulting in a rescue operation.

Rocket Installations and Nuclear Locations Hit

Eliminating Tehran's launch facilities and the prevention of enrichment activities were listed as further objectives of the offensive. Satellite images also depicted damage at the southern Khorgu and north-western Tabriz facilities, and at the Konarak air base, where rocket warehouses and bunkers were struck.

At the Choqa Balk-e drone base to the west of Kermanshah, widespread damage was observed to sheds, bunkers and drone launch equipment.

Impact was also seen at a radar installation at the Zahedan military airport in eastern parts of the country, near the frontier with Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Significantly, the most recent series of strikes have reportedly focused on facilities at the Natanz complex – long said to be at the core of the country's enrichment efforts. The UN's atomic energy body said that the affected structures were used for access to the facility's below-ground enrichment facility and that "no release of radioactive material" was likely.

Wider Impact and Assessment

Observers stated that the offensive appeared to have "greatly reduced" the Iranian navy's capacity to carry out standard operations using its biggest warships. Nevertheless, it was stressed that Tehran maintains the capacity to launch irregular strikes at sea through the use of drones, midget subs and its so-called "clandestine network" of oil ships.

The full scale of the damage caused to Iran's defense facilities is still uncertain, with attacks reportedly persisting. Pictures also reveals considerable damage to the main offices 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 and across the country after the conflict began. Reports of deaths from local officials suggest that hundreds of non-combatants may have been killed in the strikes.

As the situation develops, review of satellite imagery will persist to document the unfolding scope of damage.