Aerial Pictures Reveal Iranian Naval Forces and Atomic Locations Struck by US-Israeli Strikes.

A wave of American and Israeli airstrikes has allegedly sunk or crippled no fewer than eleven Iranian naval vessels starting the weekend, recently obtained satellite images demonstrate, with launch facilities and enrichment plants also coming under fire.

Photographs of the southerly Konarak naval military port and the Bandar Abbas facility, which sits on the strategic Hormuz Strait and is home to the headquarters of the Iran's naval force, depict smoke billowing from several vessels on Monday and Tuesday.

Naval Forces Incurred Substantial Losses

Included in the targets eliminated was the IRINS Makran, Iran's most sizable ship which had functioned as a unmanned aerial vehicle platform. Orbital photos showed black smoke pouring from the ship which had been docked at the Bandar Abbas base.

Intelligence reports state that no fewer than five ships at the port were "damaged or eliminated". Photos of the southern end of the port depict smoke emanating from the IRINS Makran, while another pair of ships seem to be harmed, with one clearly on fire.

At the Konarak base, images show several harmed ships, with expert review pointing to strikes against a half-dozen warships. Photos from Monday also demonstrate that several facilities at the base have been leveled.

"For decades the Iranian regime has threatened international shipping," an American commander said. "Now, there is no Iranian vessel operational in the Arabian Gulf, Hormuz Strait or Gulf of Oman, and we will continue."

Some vessels allegedly destroyed may have been obscured in aerial photos by weather conditions or battle damage, or hit in open waters, and have not been conclusively proven. Other accounts stated that one Iranian ship was sinking off the coast of Sri Lanka's territorial waters, prompting a search and rescue mission.

Rocket Bases and Atomic Facilities Attacked

The destruction of Tehran's launch facilities and the stopping atomic bomb programs were listed as other aims of the air campaign. Aerial imagery also depicted damage at the southerly Khorgu base and north-western Tabriz missile facilities, and at the Konarak base, where missile storage facilities and fortifications were targeted.

At the Choqa Balk-e drone drone base to the west of the city of Kermanshah, significant destruction was identified to storage buildings, bunkers and UAV launching apparatus.

Destruction was also noted at a surveillance station at the Zahedan airbase in eastern parts of the country, near the frontier with Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Perhaps most notably, the new round of strikes have apparently hit installations at the Natanz complex – widely believed to be at the core of the country's atomic program. An international watchdog stated that the affected structures were used for access to the site's underground nuclear plant and that "no release of radioactive material" was expected.

Wider Consequences and Assessment

Defense experts indicated that the strikes appeared to have "greatly reduced" the Iran's naval capacity to sustain standard operations using its largest warships. Nevertheless, it was noted that Tehran maintains the option to launch irregular strikes at sea through the use of drones, mini-submarines and its so-called "shadow fleet" of oil ships.

The overall scope of the destruction caused to Iranian military infrastructure is still uncertain, with attacks said to be continuing. Photos also shows widespread damage to the command center of the the IRGC in the city of Tehran.

A large number of civilian buildings also seem to have been hit in the capital city and throughout Iran since the fighting began. Casualty figures from local officials suggest that many hundreds of non-combatants may have been lost their lives in the attacks.

With the conflict ongoing, analysis of space-based data will carry on to track the evolving battlefield picture.