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A US torpedo struck an Iranian frigate off Sri Lanka's coast, causing it to sink with 87 people feared dead. The vessel was returning from a naval exercise in India.
 

The spillover of the West Asia conflict has now reached close to the Indian Ocean region after an Iranian frigate sank off the southern coast of Galle in Sri Lanka (international waters), about 417 km away from Kanyakumari, following a US torpedo strike on Wednesday. At least 87 people are feared dead and several others injured, including unidentified sailors. According to reports, around 180 sailors, including crew members, were on board the vessel at the time of the incident. Sri Lanka Navy personnel rescued 32 survivors during a search and rescue operation. The warship, identified as a Soleimani-class frigate, was reportedly heading back to Iran after participating in the multinational naval exercise ‘Milan’ held at Visakhapatnam on India’s eastern coast.

According to agency reports, Sri Lanka's deputy foreign minister identified the warship as the frigate IRIS Dena, and said it was heading back to Iran from an eastern Indian port. The attack happened hundreds of miles across the Indian Ocean from the Gulf, where U.S. and Israeli forces are striking Iran and Tehran is retaliating with missile and drone attacks.

'PEOPLE WERE FLOATING IN THE WATER'

A Pentagon video purporting to have captured the attack showed the warship being hit by a huge explosion which blew apart the rear of the vessel, lifting it from the water, and caused it to begin sinking from the stern. "An American submarine sank an Iranian warship that thought it was safe in international waters," U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said at the Pentagon. "Instead, it was sunk by a torpedo. Quiet death."

The Iranian vessel had taken part in a naval exercise organised by India in the Bay of Bengal from February 18 to 25, Sri Lanka said it ⁠had launched a search-and-rescue operation to locate survivors after receiving a distress call. Sri Lankan navy spokesman Commander Buddhika Sampath said boats that reached the location observed only an oil slick, adding that although the incident took place outside Sri Lankan waters, Colombo was still committed to providing support. "We found people floating in the water and rescued them," Sampath told reporters. "Later on, we found upon inquiring that they belonged to the Iranian ship." Rescuers brought bodies, covered in white sheets, in batches in a truck to the Karapitiya hospital in Galle where they were moved ⁠to the morgue. The commander of the warship and some senior officers were among the survivors and they told the Sri Lankan navy that they were hit by a submarine attack, sources told.

SHIP TOOK PART IN NAVAL DRILL ORGANISED BY INDIA

The website of the 'Milan' biennial multilateral naval exercise organised by India listed the 'IRINS Dena' as having taken part in the drill, ⁠which was held in the Bay of Bengal off India's eastern coast. IRIS - or Islamic Republic of Iran Ship - is the more commonly used prefix for Iranian naval vessels, while IRINS - or Islamic Republic of Iran Naval Ship - is sometimes used. “Indian Navy welcomes IRIS Dena, of the Iranian Navy, on her arrival at Visakhapatnam ... reflecting long-standing cultural links ⁠between the two nations,” the Eastern Naval Command of the Indian Navy said in a post on X on February 17 along with pictures of the warship and some of its officers.