An Iranian warship, the IRIS Dena, was sunk by a US submarine in international waters off the coast of Sri Lanka, shortly after participating in naval exercises hosted by India. The incident, which saw 87 bodies recovered and 32 Iranian sailors rescued by the Sri Lankan navy, marks a rare instance of a submarine torpedoing a vessel since the Second World War.
New Delhi confirmed the warship's involvement in its exercises before it headed home, and the sinking has intensified scrutiny on the escalating US-Israeli conflict with Iran, demonstrating its widening geographical scope. It has also ignited a significant debate within India regarding maritime security in the strategically vital Indian Ocean, where the nation maintains a substantial naval presence.
Sri Lanka's navy responded to a distress signal from the IRIS Dena, but upon reaching the location, found only patches of oil and sailors adrift in the water, with no sign of the vessel itself. The rescued mariners were subsequently transported to a hospital in Galle, on Sri Lanka’s southern coast.
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the sinking illustrates the U.S.-Israeli military operation against Iran is stretching beyond its borders and described IRIS Dena as a “prize ship.” U.S. President Donald Trump has said one of the key objectives of the war is to wipe out Iran’s navy.
A video released by the U.S. Department of Defense on X showed the moment of the torpedo attack. The Iranian ship appears to be hit by an underwater explosion that causes it to break apart, as a large plume of water rises up in the air.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi accused the U.S. Navy of committing an “an atrocity at sea” in sinking the frigate and said on social media on Thursday that the United States “will come to bitterly regret” the attack.
India’s navy and defense ministry said the Iranian warship had participated in the International Fleet Review and the multilateral naval exercise MILAN 2026, organized by the Indian navy in the port of Visakhapatnam from Feb. 15 to Feb. 25. The ministry said 74 countries had joined the events.
The Iranian warship was seen sailing at sea during the exercises in a Feb. 17 post on X by the Indian navy. Another image showed several of its crew members posing on deck with the Iranian flag in the background.
Araghchi stressed that the frigate had been “a guest" of India's navy. The Indian government has not yet publicly commented on the incident.
India has long viewed the Indian Ocean as central to its security, with its navy regularly conducting patrols and multinational exercises to safeguard key sea lanes used for global trade and energy shipments. It has also traditionally sought to maintain a careful diplomatic balance in tensions between the U.S. and Iran while emphasizing on diplomacy and talks.
Indian opposition leaders, however, on Thursday questioned the government’s lack of response to the incident, saying the sinking of the warship so close to India’s maritime neighborhood warranted an official statement.
The opposition Indian National Congress party slammed what it called “silence” from Prime Minister Narendra Modi 's government.
“The conflict has reached our backyard, with an Iranian warship sunk in the Indian Ocean. Yet the Prime Minister has said nothing,” opposition leader Rahul Gandhi wrote in a post on X.
Kanwal Sibal, a career diplomat who served as India’s foreign secretary from 2002 to 2003, wrote on X that India was “far from politically or militarily responsible for the U.S. attack,” but its “responsibility is at a moral and human plane.”
“The U.S. has ignored India’s sensitivities," Sibal said. "The ship was in these waters because of India’s invitation.”
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