US sinks Iran warship, returning from India, near Lanka
An Iranian warship, which was returning from Visakhapatnam following an exercise organised by the Indian Navy last month, was torpedoed by a United States submarine off the southern coast of Sri Lanka in the early hours of Wednesday.
In a Pentagon briefing, US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said the strike on the warship was the first such attack on an enemy since World War II.
“An American submarine sunk an Iranian warship that thought it was safe in international waters,” Hegseth said. “Instead, it 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 were rescued and were being treated at the hospital, and about 60 people were likely unaccounted for from an estimated 180 people on board, Sri Lankan authorities said.
Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath identified the Iranian vessel as the IRIS Dena.
The sinking occurred 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.