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Multiple joint attacks has allegedly sunk or crippled a minimum of 11 Iranian naval vessels starting Saturday, recently obtained aerial photos show, with missile bases and enrichment plants also sustaining hits.

Images of the southerly Konarak naval military port and the Bandar Abbas port facility, which is located on the Strait of Hormuz and houses the main command of the Iranian navy, show plumes of smoke rising from a number of vessels on recent days.

Maritime Fleet Sustained Significant Damage

Included in the vessels destroyed was the Makran, Iran's largest naval vessel which had been used as a unmanned aerial vehicle platform. Satellite images indicated dark plumes rising from the ship which had been stationed at the Bandar Abbas base.

Analytical reports indicate that at least five vessels at Bandar Abbas were "damaged or eliminated". Imagery of the southern end of the harbor show plumes ascending from the IRINS Makran, while additional vessels appear to be impacted, with one of them clearly on fire.

Over at the Konarak base, images show numerous harmed ships, with expert review pointing to damage to six ships. Photos from the start of the week also demonstrate that multiple facilities at the base have been destroyed.

"For a long time the Tehran government has threatened commercial vessels," a senior US military official declared. "At present, there is no vessel from Iran underway in the Arabian Gulf, Hormuz Strait or Sea of Oman, and we will continue."

A number of vessels reportedly sunk may have been obscured in satellite images by haze or plumes, or struck at sea, and have not been independently verified. Other accounts indicated that one Iranian ship was sinking off the coast of Sri Lankan waters, prompting a search and rescue mission.

Missile Bases and Nuclear Locations Attacked

The destruction of Iranian missile bases and the hindering of atomic bomb programs were declared as other aims of the offensive. Satellite images also depicted damage at the southerly Khorgu base and north-western Tabriz missile missile bases, and at the Konarak air base, where missile storage facilities and bunkers were targeted.

Over at the Choqa Balk-e drone UAV facility to the west of Kermanshah, widespread damage was observed to sheds, underground facilities and UAV launching apparatus.

Damage was also seen at a radar installation at the Zahedan military airport in eastern Iran, near the frontier with Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Perhaps most notably, the most recent series of attacks have apparently focused on sites at Natanz – widely believed to be at the core of the country's atomic program. The UN's atomic energy body commented that the affected buildings were used for access to the site's underground nuclear plant and that "no nuclear fallout" was likely.

Wider Consequences and Assessment

Defense experts stated that the offensive appeared to have "significantly degraded" the Iran's naval capability to carry out standard operations using its largest vessels. Nevertheless, it was emphasised that Iran retains the ability to launch unconventional attacks at sea through the use of drones, midget subs and its so-called "ghost fleet" of oil ships.

The overall scope of the damage caused to Iranian military facilities remains unclear, with attacks said to be continuing. Pictures also indicates extensive destruction to the headquarters of the the IRGC in the capital Tehran.

A significant number of public facilities also appear to have been struck in the capital and throughout the country after the fighting started. Toll estimates from inside Iran state that many hundreds of non-combatants may have been fatally injured in the strikes.

With the conflict ongoing, monitoring of aerial photographs will persist to assess the changing scope of damage.