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A series of American and Israeli airstrikes has according to analysis eliminated or harmed no fewer than eleven warships belonging to Iran starting Saturday, new orbital imagery show, with missile bases and enrichment plants also coming under fire.

Pictures of the southerly Konarak naval military port and the Bandar Abbas port installation, which overlooks the Strait of Hormuz and contains the headquarters of the Iran's naval force, reveal black smoke pouring from multiple ships on the start of the week.

Naval Forces Incurred Significant Damage

Included in the vessels destroyed was the Makran, the country's biggest warship which had functioned as a drone carrier. Satellite images displayed black smoke rising from the vessel which had been stationed at the Bandar Abbas naval base.

Intelligence assessments suggest that at least five ships at Bandar Abbas were "damaged or eliminated". Photos of the southern end of the harbor depict plumes ascending from the IRINS Makran, while another pair of vessels seem to be harmed, with one seen burning.

Over at the Konarak base, photos reveal numerous harmed ships, with intelligence reports identifying damage to a half-dozen warships. Images from the start of the week also indicate that several facilities at the base have been destroyed.

"For decades the Tehran government has disrupted commercial vessels," a senior US military official stated. "Today, there is not a single Iranian vessel at sea in the Persian Gulf, Strait of Hormuz or Gulf of Oman, and we will continue."

Some ships allegedly destroyed may have been concealed in satellite images by weather conditions or battle damage, or struck at sea, and have not been independently verified. Other accounts stated that an Iranian vessel was foundering near Sri Lanka's territorial waters, leading to a search and rescue mission.

Rocket Sites and Nuclear Facilities Attacked

The destruction of Iran's rocket sites and the prevention of nuclear weapons development were declared as other goals of the air campaign. Aerial imagery also revealed damage at the southern Khorgu base and northwestern Tabriz missile facilities, and at the Konarak air air base, where rocket warehouses and bunkers were targeted.

At the Choqa Balk-e UAV facility west of the city of Kermanshah, significant damage was seen to sheds, underground facilities and unmanned aircraft systems.

Impact was also noted at a radar installation at the Zahedan airbase military airport in eastern parts of the country, close to the frontier with neighboring nations.

Perhaps most notably, the new round of attacks have apparently targeted sites at the Natanz complex – long said to be at the heart of the country's nuclear programme. The UN's atomic energy body commented that the affected buildings were used for entry to the site's below-ground nuclear plant and that "no nuclear fallout" was anticipated.

Wider Consequences and Analysis

Defense experts suggested that the attacks appeared to have "greatly reduced" the Iranian navy's capability to carry out standard operations using its biggest warships. But, it was stressed that Tehran maintains the ability to launch irregular strikes at sea through the use of unmanned aerial vehicles, small submarines and its so-called "ghost fleet" of oil ships.

The full scale of the destruction caused to Iran's defense infrastructure remains unclear, with strikes reportedly continuing. Imagery also shows considerable damage to the headquarters of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in the city of Tehran.

A large number of civilian buildings also seem to have been damaged in the capital and across the country since the hostilities escalated. Reports of deaths from local officials suggest that hundreds of non-combatants may have been killed in the bombardment.

With the conflict ongoing, analysis of satellite imagery will continue to document the changing military landscape.