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3 min readNew DelhiMar 7, 2026 04:31 PM IST
“And it took them a few days to sail in, and then they docked in Kochi. And the ship is there," Jaishankar said.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar confirmed on Saturday that India allowed an Iranian ship to dock in an Indian port the same day IRIS Dena was torpedoed by a US submarine in the Indian Ocean amid the escalating conflict in West Asia. The confirmation comes three days after the Iranian naval frigate was attacked.
“You had these ships, and we got a message from the Iranian side that one of the ships, which presumably was closest to us—to our waters at that point of time, wanted to come into our port. They were reporting that they were having problems. And so, my recollection is this was on the 28th, and on the 1st, we said, ‘Okay, you can come in’,” Jaishankar, who was speaking at the Raisina Dialogue in Delhi, said.
“And it took them a few days to sail in, and then they docked in Kochi. And the ship is there. And obviously, the people on the ship, a lot of them were young cadets—that is my understanding. They have disembarked; they are, you know, in a nearby facility…,” he added.
Jaishankar was referring to the Iranian ship IRIS Lavan, which had participated in the International Fleet Review organised by the Indian Navy last month. IRIS Dena had also taken part in the same event and was returning to Iran when it was torpedoed in a US submarine attack off Sri Lanka’s coast. At least 80 people on board were killed.
“When they set out and came here, the situation was totally different. They were coming in for a fleet review, and then they got, in a way, caught on the wrong side of events. So for us, when this ship wanted to come in, and that too in difficulties, I think it was the humane thing to do. And I think we were guided by that principle,” Jaishankar said.
“And in a sense, of the other ships, one obviously had a similar situation in Sri Lanka, and they took the decision which they did, and one unfortunately didn’t make it. So, I think, we really approached it from the point of view of, in a sense, of humanity, of other than, you know, whatever the legal issues were. And I think we did the right thing,” Jaishankar added.
Iran approached India to take in the ship on February 28, indicating that a docking at Kochi was urgent as the vessel had developed technical issues. Approval was accorded for the docking on March 1. IRIS Lavan docked at Kochi on March 4, and its crew of 183 are currently accommodated at naval facilities in the city.
Shubhajit Roy, Diplomatic Editor at The Indian Express, has been a journalist for more than 25 years now. Roy joined The Indian Express in October 2003 and has been reporting on foreign affairs for more than 17 years now. Based in Delhi, he has also led the National government and political bureau at The Indian Express in Delhi — a team of reporters who cover the national government and politics for the newspaper. He has got the Ramnath Goenka Journalism award for Excellence in Journalism ‘2016. He got this award for his coverage of the Holey Bakery attack in Dhaka and its aftermath. He also got the IIMCAA Award for the Journalist of the Year, 2022, (Jury’s special mention) for his coverage of the fall of Kabul in August 2021 — he was one of the few Indian journalists in Kabul and the only mainstream newspaper to have covered the Taliban’s capture of power in mid-August, 2021. ... Read More
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