1 hour ago
6
ARTICLE AD BOX
3 min readNew DelhiUpdated: Mar 5, 2026 12:39 PM IST
Iranian warship IRIS Dena is seen in the Bay of Bengal during International Fleet Review held at Visakhapatnam, India, Feb. 18, 2026. (AP Photo)
A day after an Iranian warship, which was returning from Visakhapatnam following an exercise organised by the Indian Navy last month, was torpedoed by a United States submarine, Iranian Foreign Affairs Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi warned the US of setting the wrong precedent, also calling Frigate Dena “a guest of India’s Navy”.
The warship, carrying 130 sailors, was sunken off the southern coast of Sri Lanka in the early hours of Wednesday.
In a post on X on Thursday, Araghchi said, “The US has 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. Mark my words: The US will come to bitterly regret (the) precedent it has set.” The post was reposted by the Iranian Foreign Ministry handle.
The U.S. has 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.
Mark my words: The U.S. will come to bitterly regret precedent it has set. pic.twitter.com/cxYiI9BLUk
— Seyed Abbas Araghchi (@araghchi) March 5, 2026
In a Pentagon briefing, US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said the strike on the warship was the first such attack on an enemy since World War II. “An American submarine sunk an Iranian warship that thought it was safe in international waters,” Hegseth said. “Instead, it was sunk by a torpedo. Quiet death.”
The incident occurred amid a rapidly escalating conflict involving the United States, Israel and Iran.
The IRIS Dena, a Moudge-class frigate belonging to the Iranian Navy’s Southern Fleet, issued a distress call around 5.30 am local time while operating roughly 40 nautical miles off the coastal city of Galle.
The warship had participated in the International Fleet Review (IFR) and multilateral exercise, MILAN-2026, organised by the Indian Navy last month. The Indian Navy had extended a warm welcome to the frigate as it arrived in Visakhapatnam in the third week of February.
The US Navy destroyer USS Pinckney, which was also scheduled to take part in the IFR and MILAN, did not participate due to emergent requirements. A US P-8 aircraft had participated in the exercises.
Story continues below this ad
Indian defence sources said the incident falls within Sri Lanka’s assigned area of operation. New Delhi has not yet made any official comment on the incident.
Divya A reports on travel, tourism, culture and social issues - not necessarily in that order - for The Indian Express. She's been a journalist for over a decade now, working with Khaleej Times and The Times of India, before settling down at Express. Besides writing/ editing news reports, she indulges her pen to write short stories. As Sanskriti Prabha Dutt Fellow for Excellence in Journalism, she is researching on the lives of the children of sex workers in India. ... Read More
Stay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on Instagram
© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
English (US) ·