New Delhi, Mar 6 (PTI) Top government sources on Friday described as “baseless and preposterous” claims that the Indian Navy provided intelligence to the US on an Iranian frigate that was sunk by a US military submarine two days ago off the coast of Sri Lanka.
There is no question of providing any input to the US and the claims are completely baseless, the sources said.
The US sank the Iranian warship IRIS Dena off the coast of Sri Lanka on Wednesday when it was returning home after participating in the Milan multilateral naval exercise hosted by India.
At least 87 Iranian sailors were killed in the attack, which marked a major escalation in the conflict between the US and Iran outside of the Persian Gulf.
There were reports that alleged that the Indian Navy provided some inputs on the frigate to the US military.
The claims are completely “baseless and preposterous”, the sources said.
Iran reacted sharply to the sinking of the ship.
“IRIS Dena was a training ship. It was invited by the Indian Navy to take part in an exercise. They went there as guests. They were unarmed,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said.
“Attacking such a ship is a war crime,” he said.
Hours after the strike on the warship, the Pentagon released a short video of the sinking of the frigate.
US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said at a Pentagon media briefing on Wednesday that it was the first sinking of an enemy warship by a torpedo since World War II.
IRIS Dena participated was part of Indian Navy’s premier multilateral maritime exercise Milan.
The mega exercise last month saw participation of 42 warships and submarines, including 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. PTI MPB ZMN
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