'US will regret...ship strike': Iran as Indian Navy's guest torpedoed
What's the story
Iran's Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi has condemned the United States for attacking the Iranian frigate IRIS Dena in international waters. The incident took place around 40 nautical miles south of Galle, Sri Lanka, on March 4. The IRIS Dena had participated in the MILAN International Fleet Review from February 18-25, hosted by the Indian Navy. After the event, it was returning home on a standard westward route when it was attacked.
Naval exercise
87 were killed
Araghchi decried the attack as "an atrocity at sea." "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," he said. "Mark my words: The US will come to bitterly regret (the) precedent it has set." Sri Lankan Foreign Affairs Minister Vijitha Herath said 180 people were on board the vessel. Of those, at least 87 were killed.
Casualties
US defense secretary confirms torpedo sank warship
Shortly after the attack, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth confirmed that a torpedo fired by an American submarine sank the warship. Hegseth said it was the first time since World War II that a hostile vessel had been targeted by the US in the Indian Ocean. "Yesterday in the Indian Ocean ... an American submarine sunk an Iranian warship that thought it was safe in international waters," Hegseth said. "Instead, it was sunk by a torpedo."
Diplomatic tensions
Attack took place thousands of miles from Iran
The US attack on the ship took place thousands of miles from Iran. Hegseth called the strike on the Iranian ship a "quiet death." Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, stated that a single Mark 48 torpedo, a sophisticated munition intended expressly to wreck ships, had an "immediate effect." The Pentagon video of the hit shows the ship being blown in half before plunging to the bottom of the sea.
Twitter Post
Defense Department shares video of strike
The War Department will not stop until Iran’s Navy is completely and utterly destroyed. pic.twitter.com/9uGsXEXbZZ
— Sean Parnell (@SeanParnellASW) March 4, 2026