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A wave of joint attacks has reportedly sunk or crippled no fewer than 11 Iranian naval vessels starting Saturday, recently obtained aerial photos show, with rocket sites and atomic facilities also sustaining hits.

Photographs of the southerly Konarak naval naval base and the Bandar Abbas port facility, which overlooks the strategic Hormuz Strait and is home to the main command of the Iranian navy, depict plumes of smoke rising from a number of vessels on the start of the week.

Maritime Fleet Sustained Major Damage

Among the vessels destroyed was the IRINS Makran, the country's largest naval vessel which had been used as a unmanned aerial vehicle platform. Orbital photos displayed black smoke emanating from the vessel which had been stationed at the Bandar Abbas naval base.

Intelligence reports indicate that no fewer than a quintet of warships at Bandar Abbas were "struck or destroyed". Pictures of the south end of the port show smoke rising from the Makran, while additional vessels appear to be impacted, with one seen burning.

At the Konarak base, images display multiple stricken vessels, with intelligence reports identifying impacts on six ships. Pictures from Monday also indicate that several structures at the installation have been demolished.

"For decades the Tehran government has harassed international shipping," a senior US military official declared. "At present, there is not a single Iranian vessel operational in the Persian Gulf, Strait of Hormuz or Sea of Oman, and we will persist."

A number of vessels reportedly destroyed may have been concealed in satellite images by haze or plumes, or struck at sea, and have yet to be fully confirmed. Other accounts stated that a ship from Iran was sinking near Sri Lankan territorial waters, prompting a rescue operation.

Rocket Bases and Nuclear Facilities Targeted

Eliminating Iranian missile bases and the prevention of atomic bomb programs were stated as further objectives of the military strikes. Aerial imagery also showed strikes on the southerly Khorgu base and north-western Tabriz missile bases, and at the Konarak air base, where weapons bunkers and bunkers were hit.

Over at the Choqa Balk-e drone UAV facility to the west of Kermanshah, extensive damage was seen to warehouses, underground facilities and drone launch equipment.

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

Of particular note, the new round of attacks have apparently focused on facilities at Natanz – considered at the core of the country's nuclear programme. An international watchdog said that the affected buildings were used for access to the facility's below-ground nuclear plant and that "no nuclear fallout" was anticipated.

Broader Impact and Analysis

Defense experts indicated that the strikes appeared to have "greatly reduced" the Iranian navy's capacity to carry out conventional attacks using its most significant vessels. However, it was stressed that Iran maintains the ability to launch irregular strikes at sea through the use of drones, midget subs and its so-called "ghost fleet" of tankers.

The overall extent of the damage caused to Iran's defense facilities has yet to be fully assessed, with hostilities reportedly ongoing. Imagery also indicates extensive destruction to the command center of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in the city of Tehran.

Numerous of non-military structures also are reported to have been damaged in the capital city and throughout Iran after the hostilities began. Toll estimates from local officials state that a high number of civilians may have been killed in the attacks.

As the situation develops, monitoring of satellite imagery will continue to assess the changing scope of damage.