Sri Lanka’s navy and defense ministry have confirmed that an Iranian warship has been sunk off its coast. They said that the vessel had been attacked by a submarine.
Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath told parliament that the ship, identified as IRIS Dena, had sunk.
Pete Hegseth, the Department of War chief, took responsibility for the sinking of the IRIS Dena. While speaking at a press conference on Wednesday, Hegseth said the Iranian vessel had “thought it was safe in international waters.”
“Instead, it was sunk by a torpedo. Quiet death,” Hegseth stated,
Herath said that while an investigation will come later, right now, Sri Lankan authorities are more concerned with saving as many lives as possible. But since the U.S. has taken responsibility, an investigation is likely unnecessary.
Original reports said that at least 101 people were missing in the incident that took place. A Sri Lankan navy spokesman said the report of 101 people being missing was not true and rejected any reports on the cause of the ship sinking.
Sri Lankan authorities said on Wednesday they had rescued 32 people who were on board and recovered several bodies from the sea. Those rescued are currently under treatment at a state-run hospital in the southern port city of Galle, according to a report by RT.
“We are hopeful we can rescue more people and will continue (operations) until we are sure,” he said.
Iran Strikes Israel in Retaliation
The war continues to expand, and the sinking of this warship is just another escalation as the dominoes continue to fall.
Recently, Israel deepened its incursion into Lebanon, expanding the war by striking Hezbollah targets within the country.
Israel carried out airstrikes on Lebanon in retaliation for rocket strikes on the Jewish state by Hezbollah, which in turn was responding to the assassination of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in US-Israeli strikes over the weekend, accoridng to a report by RT.
On Tuesday, Israeli forces entered several locations in southern Lebanon before dawn, reportedly after telling residents to evacuate up to 80 border villages. Lebanon’s Health Ministry said at least 50 people have been killed in recent exchanges, hundreds were wounded, and tens of thousands of civilians have fled the southern border areas. Hezbollah said it was ready for “open war” with Israel as the cross-border fighting escalated.