More than 80 bodies have been recovered from an Iranian warship following a submarine attack.
US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth confirmed that a US submarine had sunk an Iranian warship in the Indian ocean as he declared the Iranian navy “rests at the bottom of the Persian Gulf” and that it was “ineffective, decimated, destroyed…pick your adjective, it is no more.”
He said that on Tuesday, an American submarine in the Indian ocean “sunk an Iranian war ship that thought it was safe in international waters.”
“Instead it was sunk by a torpedo, a quiet death – the first sinking of an enemy ship by a torpedo since World War II. Like in that war, back when we were still the war department, we are fighting to win.”
Contrary to Hegseth’s claims, this incident is not the first sinking of an enemy ship by a torpedo since World War Two. During the Falklands War in 1982, Argentina’s only cruiser – the General Belgrano – sank in the South Atlantic after being struck by two Tigerfish torpedoes fired by a British nuclear-powered submarine.
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In 1971 another sinking occurred after Indian frigate INS Khukri was torpedoed by a Pakistan submarine. Most recently the sinking of the Cheonan, a South Korean Navy corvette, in March 2010, was determined to have been the result of a torpedo launched by a North Korean midget submarine. North Korea denied that it was responsible for the sinking, which killed 46 seamen.
Sri Lanka’s navy and air force on Wednesday launched a joint rescue operation after the Iris Dena, ran aground off the southern coast of the island nation near the city of Galle, officials said. The vessel, which is one of Iran’s newest warships, has now sunk. Sri Lanka’s navy said it had recovered 87 bodies
According to a navy spokesman, the mission focused on evacuating crew members after the vessel issued a distress call reporting it had been hit. Iris Dena is a Moudge-class frigate serving in the Southern Fleet of the Iranian Navy.
“We have found a few bodies from the area where the ship had gone down,” said spokesman Buddhika Sampath.
It is understood that at least 180 personnel were on the Iris Dena when it got into trouble. The Iranian warship had taken part in the MILAN 2026 multinational naval exercises held in Visakhapatnam, India.
A top Sri Lankan official said 32 people have been rescued and admitted to a hospital. Dr Anil Jasinghe says one of them is in critical condition, seven are receiving emergency treatment and others are treated for minor injuries.
Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath told Parliament that Sri Lanka’s navy received information that the ship IRIS Dena was in distress and that the island nation sent ships and air force planes on a rescue mission.
It comes amid the conflict in the Middle East following American and Israeli missile strikes on Iran and the killing of its Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Explosions continue to sound in Tehran on a fifth day of the war after the strikes on an Iranian nuclear site and retaliatory strikes by the Islamic Republic across the Gulf region.
Donald Trump has suggested the conflict could last a month or longer, with nearly 800 people having been killed in Iran, including some the US president said he had considered as possible future leaders of the country.
While there have also been missile attacks on Lebanon, where Israel said it is retaliating against Hezbollah militants. Lebanon’s state-run media reported that at least four people were killed in an Israeli strike that hit a residential complex in the city of Baalbeck.
Israel has struck more than 250 Hezbollah targets in Lebanon over the past 48 hours, an Israeli army spokesperson said today.
Spokesperson Effie Defrin said in a recorded statement that the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah had been launching rockets at Israel overnight. Defrin said Israel would continue to target Hezbollah until “the threat is removed.”
He added: “I emphasise: We have no issue with the people of Lebanon. The people of Lebanon are paying the price for the Iranian regime.”
