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A series of joint airstrikes has according to analysis destroyed or damaged a minimum of eleven Iranian naval vessels starting the weekend, recently obtained orbital imagery demonstrate, with rocket sites and enrichment plants also being targeted.

Images of the southern Konarak naval naval base and the Bandar Abbas facility, which overlooks the strategic Hormuz Strait and houses the main command of the Iranian navy, reveal smoke billowing from several vessels on Monday and Tuesday.

Maritime Fleet Incurred Major Losses

Included in the vessels destroyed was the Makran, the country's largest naval vessel which had served as a unmanned aerial vehicle platform. Satellite images showed dark plumes emanating from the vessel which had been docked at the Bandar Abbas naval base.

Analytical reports state that no fewer than five vessels at the port were "damaged or eliminated". Imagery of the south end of the harbor depict plumes ascending from the Makran, while additional ships seem to be damaged, with a single one visibly ablaze.

Over at Konarak, photos display several stricken vessels, with expert review pointing to strikes against a half-dozen warships. Pictures taken on the start of the week also indicate that a number of structures at the installation have been demolished.

"For a long time the Iranian regime has threatened commercial vessels," a senior US military official stated. "Today, there is not a single Iranian vessel underway in the Arabian Gulf, Hormuz Strait or Sea of Oman, and we will continue."

Some ships reportedly destroyed may have been obscured in satellite images by cloud or smoke, or struck at sea, and have not been conclusively proven. Additional information suggested that a ship from Iran was going down off the coast of Sri Lanka's territorial waters, leading to a search and rescue mission.

Rocket Bases and Atomic Facilities Targeted

Neutralizing Iranian missile bases and the hindering of nuclear weapons development were declared as further aims of the offensive. Satellite images also revealed strikes on the southerly Khorgu and north-western Tabriz facilities, and at the Konarak air base, where weapons bunkers and fortifications were targeted.

At the Choqa Balk-e drone base west of the city of Kermanshah, extensive damage was seen to sheds, bunkers and drone launch equipment.

Damage was also observed at a surveillance station at the Zahedan military airport in eastern Iran, close to the border with neighboring nations.

Of particular note, the most recent series of strikes have apparently hit installations at the Natanz complex – widely believed to be at the core of the country's enrichment efforts. An international watchdog said that the affected buildings were used for access to the site's below-ground nuclear plant and that "no radiological consequence" was expected.

Wider Consequences and Assessment

Defense experts suggested that the attacks appeared to have "greatly reduced" the Iran's naval capability to conduct traditional warfare using its biggest vessels. However, it was emphasised that Tehran still has the capacity to launch unconventional attacks at sea through the use of drones, small submarines and its so-called "shadow fleet" of oil ships.

The overall scale of the destruction caused to Iranian military infrastructure is still uncertain, with strikes reportedly continuing. Imagery also indicates extensive destruction to the main offices of the Iran's Revolutionary Guards in the capital Tehran.

Numerous of public facilities also are reported to have been hit in the capital and across Iran since the conflict began. Reports of deaths from inside Iran indicate that hundreds of non-combatants may have been fatally injured in the strikes.

As the situation develops, review of aerial photographs will carry on to track the changing scope of damage.