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A series of American and Israeli attacks has reportedly sunk or crippled no fewer than 11 Iranian naval vessels starting the weekend, new orbital imagery reveal, with rocket sites and atomic facilities also sustaining hits.

Pictures of the southerly Konarak naval military port and the Bandar Abbas port installation, which sits on the strategic Hormuz Strait and is home to the main command of the Iran's naval force, depict smoke billowing from several warships on recent days.

Maritime Fleet Incurred Substantial Damage

Included in the vessels destroyed was the IRINS Makran, Iran's largest naval vessel which had been used as a unmanned aerial vehicle platform. Satellite images showed black smoke pouring from the ship which had been docked at the Bandar Abbas naval base.

Analytical evaluations suggest that at least a quintet of warships at Bandar Abbas were "damaged or eliminated". Imagery of the southern end of the port reveal smoke rising from the Makran, while another pair of vessels seem to be damaged, with a single one seen burning.

At Konarak, images reveal numerous harmed vessels, with expert review pointing to impacts on a half-dozen warships. Pictures from Monday also indicate that multiple facilities at the installation have been destroyed.

"For decades the Tehran government has threatened global maritime traffic," the head of US Central Command stated. "Today, there is not a single Iranian ship at sea in the Arabian Gulf, Hormuz Strait or Sea of Oman, and we will not stop."

Some ships reportedly destroyed may have been concealed in satellite images by cloud or smoke, or struck at sea, and have yet to be fully confirmed. Other accounts stated that a ship from Iran was foundering near Sri Lanka's waters, resulting in a search and rescue mission.

Missile Installations and Nuclear Facilities Hit

Neutralizing Tehran's launch facilities and the hindering of nuclear weapons development were listed as additional objectives of the air campaign. Satellite images also depicted strikes on the southerly Khorgu and north-western Tabriz missile facilities, and at the Konarak air base, where rocket warehouses and fortifications were targeted.

Over at the Choqa Balk-e drone unmanned aircraft site to the west of the city of Kermanshah, widespread destruction was observed to storage buildings, underground facilities and unmanned aircraft systems.

Damage was also observed at a radar installation at the Zahedan airbase in eastern Iran, close to the border with Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Significantly, the new round of attacks have apparently focused on sites at Natanz – considered at the core of Iran's nuclear programme. A global monitoring agency commented that the damaged structures were used for access to the facility's below-ground nuclear plant and that "no radiological consequence" was likely.

Wider Consequences and Assessment

Military analysts stated that the strikes appeared to have "greatly reduced" the Iran's naval capacity to sustain traditional warfare using its most significant vessels. However, it was stressed that Tehran maintains the option to launch asymmetric warfare at sea through the use of drones, small submarines and its so-called "ghost fleet" of oil ships.

The overall extent of the damage caused to Iran's defense infrastructure is still uncertain, with hostilities said to be continuing. Imagery also indicates extensive destruction to the headquarters of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in the city of Tehran.

A significant number of civilian buildings also seem to have been damaged in the capital and across the country after the conflict escalated. Casualty figures from local officials state that hundreds of non-combatants may have been lost their lives in the strikes.

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