A torpedo fired by a US submarine sank an Iranian warship off the south coast of Sri Lanka as the Trump administration followed through on its threats to destroy Tehran’s military and political leadership.
At least 87 Iranian sailors were feared killed in the attack on the Iris Dena on Wednesday.
The frigate was sailing in international waters as it returned from a naval exercise organised by India in the Bay of Bengal.
The torpedo strike prompted questions from former US officials about whether Washington’s aim of eliminating all of Iran’s military breached international law.
US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, confirmed the attack in a statement.
His statement came after Sri Lanka said its navy had responded to a distress call on Wednesday morning from an Iranian ship named the Iris Dena, which had gone down about 40km (25 miles) from its southern coastline.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the US had “perpetrated an atrocity at sea, 2,000 miles away from Iran’s shores”.
“Frigate Dena, a guest of India’s Navy carrying almost 130 sailors, was struck in international waters without warning,” he wrote in a post on X early on Thursday.
“Mark my words: The US will come to bitterly regret precedent it has set.”
A Sri Lankan navy spokesman said some 180 people were believed to have been aboard the Iris Dena, based on the ship’s documentation.
The survivors were “seriously injured” and had been taken to a hospital in the southern port of Galle, Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath said.
