PTI
New Delhi/Colombo
In a significant escalation of the West Asia crisis, a US submarine on Wednesday torpedoed and sank an Iranian warship in international waters off Sri Lanka’s coast when it was returning after participating in the Milan naval exercise, a multilateral war game hosted by India.
US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, confirming the strike, said at a Pentagon media briefing that it was the first sinking of an enemy warship by a torpedo since World War II.
The Associated Press, quoting Sri Lankan Navy, reported that 87 bodies were recovered and that 32 sailors were rescued following sinking of the warship IRIS Dena.
“An American submarine sank an Iranian warship that thought it was safe in international waters…Instead, it was sunk by a torpedo,” Hegseth said.
The incident marks a major escalation of the conflict between the US and Iran outside of the Persian Gulf and throwing up questions relating to maritime security in the Indian Ocean that is largely considered as the backyard of the Indian Navy.
The Pentagon has also released a short video of the sinking of the Iranian frigate.
The warship IRIS Dena is a Moudge-class frigate and had nearly 180 crew members on board.
Sri Lankan officials said a major search and rescue operation was under way to rescue the survivors. Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath said the military rescued 32 critically wounded sailors.
The military of the island nation launched the search and rescue operation after receiving distress signal from the Iranian warship, they said.
IRIS Dena was part of Indian Navy’s premier multilateral maritime exercise Milan. The mega exercise last month saw participation of 42 warships and submarines that included 18 ships from friendly foreign countries.
The warship had also featured in the International Fleet Review hosted by the Indian Navy in Vishakapatnam last month.
Former Indian Navy Chief Admiral Arun Prakash described the US action as a “senseless” and “inflammatory act”.
The United States and Israel hit Iran’s capital and other cities in multiple airstrikes on Wednesday, the fifth day of the war with Iran.
Israel targeted the Iranian leadership and security forces as the Islamic Republic responded with missile barrages and drone attacks on Israel and across the region.
Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard issued its most intense threat yet as the war escalated, saying it was prepared for the “complete destruction of the region’s military and economic infrastructure”.
The Israeli military said one of its F-35 stealth fighter jets shot down a piloted Iranian Air Force YAK-130 fighter over Tehran on Wednesday. It also said Israeli air defences were activated to intercept Iranian missiles fired at targets around the country, and explosions were heard around Jerusalem.
The tempo of the strikes on Iran was so intense that authorities postponed the mourning ceremony for Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in the conflict, according to Iranian state television.
Mojtaba Khamenei, a son of Iran’s late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has long been considered a contender to the post of the country’s next paramount ruler – even before an Israeli strike killed his father at the start of the war last week and despite the fact that he has never been elected or appointed to a government position.
A secretive figure within the Islamic Republic, Mojtaba Khamenei has not been seen publicly since Saturday, when the Israeli airstrike targeting the supreme leader’s offices killed his 86-year-old father.
Meanwhile, Turkey’s Defence Ministry said NATO defences intercepted a ballistic missile launched from Iran before it entered Turkey’s airspace.
