New Delhi: Iranian frigate IRIS Dena, sailing home from India after last month’s International Fleet Review and MILAN multilateral naval exercise, was sunk in a suspected submarine attack off Sri Lanka’s coast.
Sri Lanka’s navy launched a rescue operation after receiving word that the vessel was in distress, deploying ships and air force planes to the site.
Reuters, citing sources in Sri Lanka’s navy and defence ministry, said over 100 sailors remained unaccounted for.
A Sri Lankan spokesperson quoted by The Independent, however, disputed those figures and said that 32 survivors are receiving hospital treatment after being rescued by the navy.
The navy recovered several bodies, believed to be crew members, and is working to formally confirm their identities.
Addressing Parliament, Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath said the country’s military saved 32 “critically wounded” sailors. He said the navy received information that the ship, with 180 people on board, was in distress, and that Sri Lanka responded by dispatching naval vessels and aircraft.
Reuters, citing sources, attributed the sinking to a submarine attack.
The incident has raised eyebrows in India’s defence and security establishment, given that the vessel was returning from Indian waters and the sinking occurred in the country’s strategic neighbourhood.
It comes on the fifth day of an escalating conflict involving the US, Israel and Iran.
Former Navy Chief Admiral Arun Prakash, reacting to the incident, wrote on X: “Sinking of Iranian warship, off southern tip of Sri Lanka, with heavy loss of life is a senseless & inflammatory act. Initiating another dimension of violence in this open-ended conflict, will spread alarm across the high seas and & disrupt global seaborne commerce. Condemnable!”
US President Donald Trump has vowed to destroy the Iranian Navy entirely. The US Central Command (CENTCOM) said nearly 2,000 Iranian targets had been struck and 17 Iranian naval vessels destroyed across the Gulf and Arabian Sea region.
“We are also sinking the Iranian Navy—the entire navy—and we will not stop,” CENTCOM Commander Admiral Brad Cooper had said earlier this week.
IRIS Dena, named after Mount Dena, was a Moudge-class frigate belonging to the Southern Fleet of the Islamic Republic of Iran Navy.
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