Summary
An Iranian warship sunk by a U.S. submarine off Sri Lanka had recently been operating in the Indian Ocean after participating in naval exercises hosted by India, according to statements from New Delhi and Iranian officials.
Sri Lanka’s navy said it recovered 87 bodies and rescued 32 Iranian sailors from the IRIS Dena after the vessel sank in international waters off the island nation. Sri Lankan officials said the navy responded to a distress signal from the ship but, by the time it reached the area, there was no sign of the vessel—only patches of oil and sailors in the water. The rescued mariners were taken to a hospital in the town of Galle on Sri Lanka’s southern coast.
India’s defense ministry and navy said the Iranian frigate had taken part in the International Fleet Review and in MILAN 2026, a multilateral naval exercise organized by the Indian navy in the port city of Visakhapatnam from Feb. 15 to Feb. 25. The ministry said 74 countries joined the events. India’s navy also posted images showing the ship sailing at sea during the exercises, including a Feb. 17 post on X, and footage that showed crew members posing on deck with the Iranian flag in the background.
Iran’s case was also part of the broader dispute over the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran, which Iranian officials described as extending beyond the region. U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the sinking illustrated that the U.S.-Israeli military operation against Iran is stretching beyond its borders, and he described the IRIS Dena as a “prize ship.” The Iranian Foreign Ministry and Minister Abbas Araghchi, for his part, accused the U.S. Navy of committing an “an atrocity at sea” and said on social media that the United States “will come to bitterly regret” the attack.
The United States released a video on X by the Department of Defense that showed the moment of the torpedo attack. In the video, the Iranian ship appears to be hit by an underwater explosion that breaks the vessel apart, producing a large plume of water rising into the air.
While the incident unfolded, Sri Lankan officials said another Iranian warship was moving toward the island and entered Sri Lanka’s exclusive economic zone—an area beyond its territorial waters where the country has rights over natural resources. Sri Lanka’s media minister and government spokesperson, Nalinda Jayatissa, told parliament that the government was trying to “minimize the loss of lives and safeguard regional peace,” without providing additional details. Later, President Anura Kumara Dissanayake said Sri Lankan navy boats started transferring 208 sailors from the Iranian warship IRIS Bushehr, first to Colombo before taking them to a naval base outside the city, while the warship itself would be taken to a port in eastern Sri Lanka. Dissanayake said an agreement to take over the ship and the crew followed discussions with Iranian officials and the ship’s captain, and he said Sri Lanka was earlier told the vessel had suffered engine failure.
In India, the sinking also prompted criticism from opposition leaders who questioned what they described as the government’s lack of response. India has long treated the Indian Ocean as central to its security and has conducted patrols and multinational exercises while also maintaining a diplomatic balance in tensions between the United States and Iran. On Thursday, India’s opposition Indian National Congress party slammed what it called “silence” from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government.
Rahul Gandhi wrote on X that “The conflict has reached our backyard, with an Iranian warship sunk in the Indian Ocean. Yet the Prime Minister has said nothing.” Former diplomat Kanwal Sibal, who served as India’s foreign secretary from 2002 to 2003, wrote that India was “far from politically or militarily responsible for the U.S. attack,” but that India’s “responsibility is at a moral and human plane.” He added that the U.S. “has ignored India’s sensitivities” and said “The ship was in these waters because of India’s invitation.”