An Iranian warship has been struck by a submarine and sunk off the coast of Sri Lanka, leaving 101 crew members missing and at least 78 others injured, according to military sources. A major search and rescue operation is still underway after an explosion tore through the 180-member crew frigate IRIS Dena about 25 miles south of the Indian Ocean island of Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka's Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath told the parliament that the wounded sailors were transported to a hospital in the southern part of Sri Lanka. The Sri Lankan Navy launched a rescue operation after the vessel sent out a distress call at dawn, according to reports.
Down in One Shot
"We are keeping up a search, but we don't know yet what happened to the rest of the crew," an official told AFP, dimming prospects for finding any more survivors. Herath said two Sri Lankan navy ships and an aircraft were sent out as part of the rescue effort, but he did not clarify what led to the Iranian warship sinking.
During the parliamentary session, an opposition lawmaker questioned whether the vessel may have been bombed amid the ongoing U.S.-Israeli strikes against Iran. The government did not immediately respond to that claim.
However, a Sri Lankan military source told Reuters that the ship was struck by a submarine, triggering the explosion that ultimately sank it. The source did not identify which country the submarine belonged to.
Sri Lankan Navy spokesperson Buddhika Sampath said the rescue mission was carried out in line with the country's maritime responsibilities. He added that 32 Iranian sailors were evacuated to the main hospital in Galle, about 70 miles south of the capital, Colombo.
"We responded to the distress call under our international obligations, as this is within our search and rescue area in the Indian Ocean," Sampath told AFP.
Sri Lanka's navy and air force said they would not make any rescue footage public, explaining that the operation involved the military personnel of another country and was therefore sensitive. Security was tightened outside the hospital in Galle as injured Iranian sailors were transported there by the local navy for treatment.
War Intensifies
The incident comes just days after the U.S. military announced it had struck Iran's largest naval warship as part of former President Donald Trump's Operation Epic Fury. Meanwhile, US Central Command also criticized Iran's leadership for falsely claiming it had sunk an American aircraft carrier in the Gulf, dismissing the assertion as untrue.
"The Iranian regime's false messaging machine continues to falsely claim that it has sunk a US aircraft carrier. The only carrier that has been hit is the Shahid Bagheri, an Iranian drone carrier," the US Central Command said.
"US forces struck the ship within hours of launching Operation Epic Fury."
Reports say Tehran used the IRIS Shahid Bagheri as a base to launch drone attacks on U.S. military facilities and Gulf allies following the death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Since the start of the conflict, U.S. forces have sunk 11 Iranian naval ships in the Gulf of Oman, though the full extent of the damage to this particular vessel is still unclear. The recent strike on Iran's warship highlights the continuing impact on the country's naval strength from U.S. and Israeli operations.
Iran has claimed that hundreds of U.S. troops were killed in retaliatory attacks, but US Central Command reported that four American service members have died and 18 others were wounded in strikes carried out by Iran.
