An Iranian warship, returning from Visakhapatnam after an exercise organized by the Indian Navy last month, was torpedoed by a US submarine off the southern coast of Sri Lanka in the early hours of Wednesday. At a briefing at the Pentagon, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the attack on the warship was the first of its kind against an enemy since World War II.
“A U.S. submarine sank an Iranian warship that thought it was safe in international waters,” Hegseth said. “Instead, she was sunk by a torpedo. Quiet death.”
Hospital authorities in the Sri Lankan port city of Galle said 87 bodies were brought in by military rescuers who responded to an early morning distress call. Another 32 people were rescued and were being treated in hospital, and about 60 people were likely missing out of an estimated total of 180 people on board, Sri Lankan authorities said.
Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath identified the Iranian ship as the IRIS Dena.
The sinking came amid a rapidly escalating conflict involving the United States, Israel and Iran. Military strikes launched by the United States and Israel on February 28 killed Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, along with several senior officials of the country’s regime.
SOS call early in the morning
The IRIS Dena, a Moudge-class frigate belonging to the Iranian Navy’s Southern Fleet, issued a distress call around 5.30 am local time while operating approximately 40 nautical miles from the coastal city of Galle, Sri Lankan defense officials told The Indian Express. Rescue operations by the Sri Lanka Navy and Air Force were underway throughout the morning.
The warship had participated in the International Fleet Review (IFR) and multilateral exercise MILAN-2026, organized by the Indian Navy last month.
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The US Navy destroyer USS Pinckney, which was also due to participate in the IFR and MILAN, did not participate due to emerging needs. An American P-8 aircraft participated in the exercises.
Indian Defense sources said the incident falls within the area of operation assigned to Sri Lanka. “Any other Navy can only participate if it seeks help for the operation,” a source said.
Many of the 32 sailors rescued from the frigate were in critical condition due to serious injuries and prolonged time in the water, according to two senior Sri Lankan government officials who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The injured were transported to the Karapitiya University Hospital in Galle, the largest medical center in the region, where emergency rooms were put on alert to receive the victims.
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Foreign Minister Herath confirmed in parliament that Sri Lanka had launched a rescue mission and said the ship sank just outside Sri Lanka’s territorial waters but within the country’s designated search and rescue zone.
“We responded to the distress call under our international obligations,” Sri Lankan navy spokesperson Commander Buddhika Sampath told media. Two warships and a surveillance plane were sent to assist in the rescue.
A Sri Lankan official added: “The US Navy’s Ohio-class submarines routinely patrol the Indian Ocean from the US military base at Diego Garcia (a strategic island facility used for operations throughout the Middle East and Asia). We are examining sightings and maritime tracking data.”
Sri Lanka has maintained a policy of neutrality in international conflicts, but occupies a strategically significant location along the major sea routes of the Indian Ocean.
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The waters south of Sri Lanka lie close to some of the world’s busiest shipping corridors linking Asia, the Middle East and Europe. Naval ships from several countries, including the United States, China and India, regularly transit or patrol the region.
Returning from India
Iranian naval deployments to the region have been relatively rare. The IRIS Dena had been participating in diplomatic naval activities in the weeks prior to the incident. In February, the frigate attended the IFR in the Indian port city of Visakhapatnam, where it docked alongside ships from several countries. The Indian Navy gave a warm welcome to the frigate when it arrived at Visakhapatnam in the third week of February.
This was highlighted by Congress’s Pawan Khera, who posted in
The frigate, named after Mount Dena in southwestern Iran, was a domestically built warship designed for patrol and combat missions in regional waters. It carried a variety of anti-ship missiles, naval guns and torpedo launchers, and also included a landing platform for helicopters and radar systems capable of tracking multiple targets.
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A Chennai-based military analyst said the ship would have been heavily armed and carried Qader anti-ship missiles, a 76-millimeter naval gun and torpedo systems, among other weapons.
A Pentagon video purporting to have captured the attack showed the warship being hit by a large explosion, which shattered the rear of the ship, lifting it out of the water and causing it to begin sinking from the stern. Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that for the first time since 1945, a U.S. Navy fast attack submarine has sunk an enemy combat ship using a single Mk 48 torpedo to immediate effect, sending the warship to the bottom of the sea.
– With AP and Reuters
