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A wave of joint strikes has according to analysis sunk or crippled a minimum of eleven warships belonging to Iran starting Saturday, freshly analyzed orbital imagery show, with rocket sites and enrichment plants also being targeted.

Pictures of the southerly Konarak naval base and the Bandar Abbas port installation, which overlooks the Strait of Hormuz and is home to the headquarters of the Iranian navy, depict black smoke pouring from a number of warships on recent days.

Maritime Forces Incurred Substantial Losses

Included in the targets eliminated was the Makran, the country's most sizable ship which had served as a unmanned aerial vehicle platform. Orbital photos displayed dark plumes rising from the ship which had been docked at the Bandar Abbas base.

Analytical evaluations indicate that at least a quintet of warships at Bandar Abbas were "damaged or eliminated". Imagery of the southern part of the harbor show smoke emanating from the IRINS Makran, while another pair of vessels are visibly impacted, with a single one seen burning.

At the Konarak base, images reveal multiple damaged ships, with intelligence reports identifying damage to a half-dozen warships. Pictures taken on Monday also show that a number of facilities at the base have been leveled.

"For a long time the Iran's leadership has disrupted international shipping," a senior US military official declared. "Today, there is not a single vessel from Iran underway in the Arabian Gulf, Hormuz Strait or Sea of Oman, and we will persist."

A number of vessels reportedly sunk may have been obscured in satellite images by cloud or smoke, or hit in open waters, and have not been independently verified. Other accounts suggested that one Iranian ship was sinking off the coast of Sri Lankan territorial waters, resulting in a search and rescue mission.

Missile Bases and Nuclear Locations Targeted

Eliminating Iran's rocket sites and the prevention of atomic bomb programs were stated as other objectives of the air campaign. Satellite images also revealed impacts against the southern Khorgu base and north-western Tabriz facilities, and at the Konarak air air base, where weapons bunkers and fortifications were struck.

Over at the Choqa Balk-e drone unmanned aircraft site to the west of Kermanshah, extensive destruction was observed to warehouses, underground facilities and unmanned aircraft systems.

Destruction was also observed at a radar site at the Zahedan military airport in eastern parts of the country, close to the border with Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Significantly, the new round of strikes have apparently targeted sites at the Natanz complex – considered at the heart of the country's atomic program. The UN's atomic energy body said that the damaged buildings were used for entry to the facility's below-ground enrichment facility and that "no release of radioactive material" was expected.

Wider Impact and Analysis

Observers suggested that the attacks appeared to have "significantly degraded" the Iran's naval capacity to carry out standard operations using its largest vessels. However, it was emphasised that Tehran retains the ability to launch asymmetric warfare at sea through the use of unmanned aerial vehicles, small submarines and its so-called "ghost fleet" of oil ships.

The overall extent of the damage caused to Iranian military infrastructure remains unclear, with hostilities said to be continuing. Photos also shows considerable damage to the headquarters of the the IRGC in the city of Tehran.

A large number of public facilities also seem to have been struck in the capital city and across the country after the fighting escalated. Casualty figures from inside Iran state that a high number of civilians may have been lost their lives in the strikes.

With the conflict ongoing, analysis of space-based data will continue to document the evolving scope of damage.