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Multiple American and Israeli strikes has reportedly sunk or crippled a minimum of 11 warships belonging to Iran since Saturday, new aerial photos demonstrate, with rocket sites and nuclear sites also being targeted.

Pictures of the southern Konarak naval base and the Bandar Abbas facility, which is located on the Strait of Hormuz and contains the headquarters of the Iran's naval force, depict black smoke pouring from a number of vessels on Monday and Tuesday.

Maritime Assets Sustained Substantial Damage

Included in the ships sunk was the Makran, Iran's largest naval vessel which had been used as a drone carrier. Orbital photos indicated thick smoke emanating from the vessel which had been stationed at the Bandar Abbas naval base.

Intelligence assessments state that no fewer than five ships at the port were "hit or sunk". Pictures of the south end of the harbor reveal plumes ascending from the IRINS Makran, while another pair of vessels seem to be impacted, with a single one clearly on fire.

At the Konarak base, photos reveal multiple damaged vessels, with analysis pointing to impacts on a half-dozen warships. Photos from the start of the week also indicate that a number of structures at the installation have been demolished.

"For a long time the Iran's leadership has harassed commercial vessels," a senior US military official said. "Today, there is not one vessel from Iran at sea in the Arabian Gulf, Hormuz Strait or Gulf of Oman, and we will not stop."

Some vessels reportedly sunk may have been obscured in satellite images by cloud or smoke, or struck at sea, and have yet to be fully confirmed. Separate reports suggested that an Iranian vessel was foundering near Sri Lankan territorial waters, resulting in a search and rescue mission.

Missile Installations and Atomic Locations Attacked

Eliminating Iran's rocket sites and the hindering of nuclear weapons development were declared as additional objectives of the military strikes. Satellite images also showed strikes on the southerly Khorgu base and northwestern Tabriz missile facilities, and at the Konarak air base, where rocket warehouses and bunkers were struck.

At the Choqa Balk-e drone drone base west of Kermanshah, significant damage was observed to warehouses, bunkers and unmanned aircraft systems.

Damage was also seen at a surveillance station at the Zahedan airbase airbase in eastern Iran, near the border with Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Significantly, the most recent series of attacks have reportedly targeted facilities at Natanz – widely believed to be at the core of Iran's atomic program. A global monitoring agency commented that the damaged buildings were used for entry to the site's underground enrichment facility and that "no radiological consequence" was anticipated.

Wider Consequences and Assessment

Defense experts stated that the offensive appeared to have "largely neutralized" the Iran's naval capability to carry out traditional warfare using its biggest warships. However, it was emphasised that Iran retains the ability to launch irregular strikes at sea through the use of drones, mini-submarines and its so-called "ghost fleet" of oil ships.

The full scale of the damage caused to Iran's defense infrastructure remains unclear, with hostilities reportedly ongoing. Imagery also reveals extensive destruction to the headquarters of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in the capital Tehran.

Numerous of non-military structures also are reported to have been struck in the capital city and throughout the country since the fighting escalated. Toll estimates from local officials suggest that many hundreds of non-combatants may have been fatally injured in the strikes.

With the conflict ongoing, review of space-based data will persist to document the changing scope of damage.