🔗 Share this article Aerial Imagery Indicate Iranian Naval Forces and Nuclear Facilities Hit by American and Israeli Attacks. A series of US and Israeli airstrikes has reportedly eliminated or harmed no fewer than 11 warships belonging to Iran since the weekend, new satellite images reveal, with rocket sites and atomic facilities also coming under fire. Images of the southern Konarak military port and the Bandar Abbas facility, which sits on the strategic Hormuz Strait and contains the headquarters of the Iranian navy, reveal smoke billowing from multiple warships on recent days. Maritime Fleet Incurred Substantial Damage Included in the vessels destroyed was the Makran, the country's largest naval vessel which had been used as a unmanned aerial vehicle platform. Orbital photos indicated dark plumes rising from the vessel which had been stationed at the Bandar Abbas base. Analytical reports indicate that at least five ships at Bandar Abbas were "struck or destroyed". Pictures of the southern end of the harbor reveal smoke rising from the IRINS Makran, while additional ships appear to be impacted, with a single one seen burning. Over at the Konarak base, images display several harmed ships, with intelligence reports pointing to strikes against a half-dozen warships. Photos from the start of the week also indicate that a number of buildings at the base have been destroyed. "For decades the Iranian regime has disrupted international shipping," the head of US Central Command declared. "Now, there is not one Iranian ship underway in the Persian Gulf, Strait of Hormuz or Gulf of Oman, and we will not stop." Some vessels allegedly sunk may have been concealed in satellite images by haze or plumes, or targeted offshore, and have not been conclusively proven. Other accounts stated that one Iranian ship was going down near Sri Lanka's territorial waters, prompting a search and rescue mission. Missile Sites and Nuclear Locations Targeted Neutralizing Tehran's launch facilities and the hindering of atomic bomb programs were listed as other goals of the military strikes. Aerial imagery also showed impacts against the southerly Khorgu and northwestern Tabriz missile missile bases, and at the Konarak air base, where weapons bunkers and bunkers were struck. At the Choqa Balk-e drone base west of the city of Kermanshah, widespread destruction was seen to storage buildings, bunkers and drone launch equipment. Destruction was also observed at a radar installation at the Zahedan airbase in eastern Iran, near the border with Afghanistan and Pakistan. Perhaps most notably, the most recent series of attacks have apparently focused on facilities at the Natanz complex – long said to be at the heart of the country's atomic program. An international watchdog commented that the affected structures were used for entry to the facility's underground nuclear plant and that "no radiological consequence" was likely. Broader Consequences and Analysis Military analysts stated that the attacks appeared to have "greatly reduced" the Iran's naval capacity to conduct standard operations using its biggest warships. But, it was emphasised that Iran retains the option to launch asymmetric warfare at sea through the use of unmanned aerial vehicles, midget subs and its so-called "shadow fleet" of oil ships. The total extent of the destruction caused to Iranian military infrastructure is still uncertain, with strikes said to be continuing. Photos also indicates widespread damage to the main offices of the the IRGC in the capital Tehran. A large number of civilian buildings also are reported to have been hit in the capital and across Iran since the fighting started. Casualty figures from inside Iran indicate that many hundreds of non-combatants may have been lost their lives in the bombardment. As the situation develops, review of satellite imagery will continue to document the evolving battlefield picture.