New Delhi: Iranian naval frigate IRIS Dena was left stranded in the Indian Ocean after Sri Lanka reversed an invitation to dock on its port – eventually leaving it vulnerable to the 4 March attack by a US submarine that sunk the ship and killed 87 on board, a report said.
Jaffna Monitor said IRIS Dena was invited to Sri Lanka for a courtesy port call, described as a routine gesture of goodwill, by Colombo’s representatives during MILAN 2026, the multilateral exercise hosted by the Indian Navy in Visakhapatnam.
After participating in the exercise, which concluded on 25 February, the frigate was moving towards Colombo when US and Israeli forces struck Iran, triggering immediate retaliation and plunging West Asia into chaos.
Sri Lanka, according to the report, reassessed its position and concluded that allowing an Iranian warship to dock amid the conflict would carry diplomatic risks. By the time it revoked the invitation, the warship had reached nearly 40 nautical miles south of Galle.
The report said the frigate was left waiting in open international waters for approximately 11 hours—a delay that analysts said exposed it to hostile action. A US Navy submarine sank the warship with a Mark 48 torpedo within three minutes.
Around 32 survivors were rescued by Sri Lankan authorities and taken to a hospital in Galle. Over 80 crew members of the Iranian Navy died.
“Details emerging from multiple sources familiar with naval communications in Iran, India and Sri Lanka suggest the ship’s final movements may have been shaped not only by the escalating United States–Iran confrontation, but also by a sudden shift in Sri Lanka’s diplomatic posture…” the report said.
A source described as being in direct communication with the ship told the Jaffna Monitor: “When the message came telling us not to proceed, we had no option but to wait.”
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Divergent accounts
Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake offered a different sequence of events.
Speaking to reporters Wednesday, he said Iran had formally sought permission for its naval vessels to visit.
“On the 26th of last month (February), Iran requested permission from our Ministry of Foreign Affairs for three naval vessels to enter our port between March 9 and March 13,” he said.
Sri Lankan officials have also suggested that IRIS Dena may have been seeking emergency refuge after it became unsafe for the vessel to return to Iran, given the escalating conflict.
A source familiar with the incident characterised the “sudden denial” of entry and the 11-hour delay as a perceived betrayal by Sri Lankan authorities. The Sri Lankan government has yet to release a timeline of communications with the ship in its final hours.
(Edited by Ajeet Tiwari)
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