Orbital Imagery Depict Iran's Navy and Nuclear Locations Struck by Joint US and Israeli Strikes.

A series of joint airstrikes has reportedly sunk or crippled a minimum of 11 Iranian naval vessels starting Saturday, new orbital imagery show, with rocket sites and nuclear sites also coming under fire.

Photographs of the southerly Konarak naval naval base and the Bandar Abbas port installation, which sits on the Strait of Hormuz and contains the headquarters of the Iran's naval force, reveal plumes of smoke rising from multiple ships on recent days.

Maritime Fleet Incurred Significant Damage

Among the vessels destroyed was the IRINS Makran, the country's largest naval vessel which had been used as a drone carrier. Aerial imagery indicated dark plumes emanating from the vessel which had been stationed at the Bandar Abbas base.

Intelligence evaluations state that no fewer than five ships at the port were "damaged or eliminated". Imagery of the south end of the port show smoke rising from the Makran, while another pair of vessels seem to be harmed, with one clearly on fire.

Over at the Konarak base, images display several harmed ships, with intelligence reports pointing to strikes against a half-dozen warships. Pictures from Monday also demonstrate that a number of buildings at the installation have been demolished.

"For decades the Tehran government has harassed international shipping," a senior US military official stated. "Now, there is no Iranian vessel operational in the Arabian Gulf, Strait of Hormuz or Sea of Oman, and we will persist."

A number of vessels reportedly destroyed may have been obscured in satellite images by weather conditions or battle damage, or targeted offshore, and have not been conclusively proven. Additional information stated that a ship from Iran was foundering off the coast of Sri Lanka's waters, prompting a rescue operation.

Missile Bases and Nuclear Facilities Hit

Eliminating Iran's rocket sites and the hindering of enrichment activities were declared as other objectives of the offensive. Satellite images also depicted damage at the southern Khorgu and north-western Tabriz missile facilities, and at the Konarak base, where rocket warehouses and fortifications were hit.

At the Choqa Balk-e drone unmanned aircraft site west of the city of Kermanshah, extensive damage was observed to sheds, bunkers and drone launch equipment.

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

Significantly, the latest wave of attacks have apparently focused on installations at the Natanz complex – widely believed to be at the core of the country's atomic program. An international watchdog said that the affected buildings were used for access to the site's below-ground nuclear plant and that "no nuclear fallout" was expected.

Wider Fallout and Analysis

Military analysts suggested that the attacks appeared to have "largely neutralized" the Iranian navy's ability to sustain traditional warfare using its most significant vessels. Nevertheless, it was noted that Iran retains the ability to launch irregular strikes at sea through the use of unmanned aerial vehicles, small submarines and its so-called "clandestine network" of oil ships.

The full scale of the destruction caused to Iranian military facilities has yet to be fully assessed, with strikes reportedly ongoing. Pictures also shows extensive destruction to the main offices of the the IRGC in the city of Tehran.

A significant number of non-military structures also seem to have been struck in the capital and across the country since the conflict began. Toll estimates from local officials indicate that a high number of civilians may have been lost their lives in the strikes.

With the conflict ongoing, monitoring of aerial photographs will carry on to track the evolving battlefield picture.

Shannon Arellano
Shannon Arellano

Maya Chen is a tech journalist with over a decade of experience covering digital trends and innovations across Europe.