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A series of US and Israeli strikes has according to analysis sunk or crippled no fewer than eleven warships belonging to Iran since the weekend, freshly analyzed aerial photos reveal, with missile bases and nuclear sites also sustaining hits.

Images of the southerly Konarak naval naval base and the Bandar Abbas port facility, which overlooks the strategic Hormuz Strait and is home to the headquarters of the Iranian navy, reveal smoke billowing from a number of ships on the start of the week.

Naval Assets Sustained Substantial Losses

Among the vessels destroyed was the Makran, the country's largest naval vessel which had functioned as a unmanned aerial vehicle platform. Orbital photos showed thick smoke rising from the vessel which had been stationed at the Bandar Abbas naval base.

Analytical reports indicate that no fewer than a quintet of warships at the port were "damaged or eliminated". Pictures of the southern part of the port reveal smoke emanating from the Makran, while two other vessels are visibly damaged, with one of them seen burning.

Over at Konarak, images display several damaged ships, with expert review pointing to impacts on a half-dozen warships. Images taken on Monday also demonstrate that multiple facilities at the base have been leveled.

"For a long time the Tehran government has harassed commercial vessels," a senior US military official declared. "Now, there is no vessel from Iran operational in the Arabian Gulf, Hormuz Strait or Sea of Oman, and we will persist."

A number of ships allegedly destroyed may have been obscured in aerial photos by cloud or smoke, or hit in open waters, and have yet to be fully confirmed. Other accounts indicated that one Iranian ship was going down off the coast of Sri Lanka's waters, leading to a search and rescue mission.

Missile Bases and Atomic Facilities Targeted

Eliminating Tehran's launch facilities and the prevention of atomic bomb programs were stated as other objectives of the air campaign. Aerial imagery also depicted impacts against the southern Khorgu and north-western Tabriz facilities, and at the Konarak air air base, where rocket warehouses and fortifications were hit.

Over at the Choqa Balk-e unmanned aircraft site west of the city of Kermanshah, widespread damage was observed to warehouses, bunkers and drone launch equipment.

Damage 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.

Of particular note, the new round 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 buildings were used for entry to the site's below-ground nuclear plant and that "no release of radioactive material" was expected.

Wider Fallout and Analysis

Observers suggested that the attacks appeared to have "greatly reduced" the Iran's naval capacity to conduct traditional warfare using its biggest warships. But, it was emphasised that Tehran still has the capacity to launch unconventional attacks at sea through the use of drones, small submarines and its so-called "shadow fleet" of oil ships.

The total extent of the damage caused to Iran's defense facilities has yet to be fully assessed, with hostilities said to be continuing. Pictures also indicates extensive damage to the headquarters of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in the city of Tehran.

A large number of non-military structures also seem to have been struck in the capital city and throughout the country after the conflict started. Toll estimates from local officials state that many hundreds of non-combatants may have been killed in the bombardment.

Amid continuing hostilities, monitoring of space-based data will persist to track the evolving battlefield picture.