🔗 Share this article Aerial Imagery Indicate Iran's Naval Forces and Nuclear Locations Hit by US-Israeli Airstrikes. A series of joint strikes has allegedly destroyed or damaged a minimum of 11 warships belonging to Iran since Saturday, freshly analyzed orbital imagery demonstrate, with rocket sites and atomic facilities also sustaining hits. Photographs of the southerly Konarak naval base and the Bandar Abbas port facility, which is located on the Strait of Hormuz and houses the headquarters of the Iranian navy, reveal plumes of smoke rising from several warships on recent days. Naval Fleet Sustained Major Damage Among the targets eliminated was the Makran, Iran's most sizable ship which had functioned as a unmanned aerial vehicle platform. Satellite images showed thick smoke pouring from the ship which had been moored at the Bandar Abbas naval base. Intelligence evaluations indicate that no fewer than a quintet of warships at the port were "struck or destroyed". Pictures of the south end of the harbor depict smoke rising from the IRINS Makran, while two other ships are visibly damaged, with a single one clearly on fire. At Konarak, images show numerous harmed ships, with analysis identifying damage to six ships. Photos taken on the start of the week also indicate that multiple facilities at the installation have been destroyed. "For a long time the Tehran government has disrupted global maritime traffic," the head of US Central Command said. "Today, there is not one vessel from Iran at sea in the Arabian Gulf, Hormuz Strait or Sea of Oman, and we will persist." Some vessels reportedly destroyed may have been hidden in aerial photos by cloud or smoke, or struck at sea, and have not been independently verified. Additional information indicated that one Iranian ship was going down near Sri Lanka's waters, resulting in a search and rescue mission. Missile Installations and Nuclear Facilities Targeted Eliminating Iranian missile bases and the prevention of atomic bomb programs were declared as additional objectives of the air campaign. Aerial imagery also showed impacts against the southern Khorgu and northwestern Tabriz missile facilities, and at the Konarak air air base, where missile storage facilities and fortifications were targeted. At the Choqa Balk-e drone base to the west of the city of Kermanshah, extensive damage was identified to storage buildings, underground facilities and UAV launching apparatus. Impact was also seen at a surveillance station at the Zahedan airbase military airport in eastern parts of the country, near the frontier with neighboring nations. Perhaps most notably, the latest wave of attacks have apparently targeted facilities at the Natanz complex – considered at the heart of Iran's nuclear programme. The UN's atomic energy body said that the affected buildings were used for access to the site's below-ground nuclear plant and that "no release of radioactive material" was anticipated. Wider Impact and Assessment Military analysts indicated that the attacks appeared to have "greatly reduced" the Iranian navy's ability to conduct conventional attacks using its largest vessels. But, it was noted that Iran still has the ability to launch unconventional attacks at sea through the use of unmanned aerial vehicles, mini-submarines and its so-called "shadow fleet" of oil ships. The overall scale of the destruction caused to Iranian military facilities has yet to be fully assessed, with hostilities said to be continuing. Imagery also shows extensive destruction to the headquarters of the the IRGC in the capital Tehran. Numerous of public facilities also seem to have been struck in the capital city and throughout the country since the hostilities escalated. Casualty figures from local officials indicate that a high number of non-combatants may have been killed in the attacks. With the conflict ongoing, review of aerial photographs will continue to assess the unfolding scope of damage.