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A series of US and Israeli airstrikes has reportedly destroyed or damaged a minimum of 11 Iranian naval vessels starting Saturday, freshly analyzed aerial photos demonstrate, with launch facilities and nuclear sites also sustaining hits.

Photographs of the southerly Konarak naval naval base and the Bandar Abbas facility, which is located on the Strait of Hormuz and contains the headquarters of the Iranian navy, show black smoke pouring from several vessels on recent days.

Maritime Forces Sustained Substantial Losses

Among the ships sunk was the IRINS Makran, Iran's largest naval vessel which had served as a drone carrier. Orbital photos displayed thick smoke rising from the vessel which had been docked at the Bandar Abbas naval base.

Intelligence reports suggest that at least a quintet of warships at the port were "struck or destroyed". Pictures of the southern end of the port show smoke rising from the Makran, while another pair of ships appear to be harmed, with one seen burning.

At the Konarak base, photos reveal multiple harmed vessels, with analysis pointing to strikes against a half-dozen warships. Images from Monday also indicate that multiple structures at the base have been leveled.

"For decades the Iranian regime has threatened commercial vessels," a senior US military official said. "At present, there is no vessel from Iran at sea in the Arabian Gulf, Strait of Hormuz or Sea of Oman, and we will continue."

Some vessels reportedly sunk may have been hidden in aerial photos by cloud or smoke, or hit in open waters, and have not been independently verified. Other accounts suggested that one Iranian ship was sinking off the coast of Sri Lanka's waters, leading to a rescue operation.

Rocket Installations and Nuclear Locations Attacked

The destruction of Iranian missile bases and the prevention of atomic bomb programs were listed as other goals of the military strikes. Aerial imagery also depicted strikes on the southern Khorgu base and north-western Tabriz missile facilities, and at the Konarak air base, where rocket warehouses and bunkers were hit.

Over at the Choqa Balk-e drone UAV facility to the west of Kermanshah, significant destruction was observed to storage buildings, underground facilities and UAV launching apparatus.

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

Significantly, the latest wave of attacks have apparently targeted installations at Natanz – widely believed to be at the heart of the country's atomic program. An international watchdog commented that the damaged structures were used for entry to the facility's below-ground nuclear plant and that "no radiological consequence" was expected.

Broader Impact and Assessment

Observers indicated that the attacks appeared to have "greatly reduced" the Iran's naval capacity to sustain conventional attacks using its biggest warships. Nevertheless, it was stressed that Tehran retains the capacity to launch irregular strikes at sea through the use of unmanned aerial vehicles, midget subs and its so-called "shadow fleet" of tankers.

The overall extent of the damage caused to Iranian military infrastructure is still uncertain, with hostilities reportedly ongoing. Pictures also indicates extensive damage to the main offices of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in the capital Tehran.

A significant number of civilian buildings also seem to have been struck in the capital city and across Iran since the hostilities escalated. Casualty figures from inside Iran indicate that many hundreds of civilians may have been fatally injured in the bombardment.

Amid continuing hostilities, monitoring of satellite imagery will persist to assess the changing battlefield picture.