Iran Furious as Warship Is Torpedoed: US Will Regret It

Iran has reacted to one of its warships sinking after being torpedoed by a United States submarine in the Indian Ocean, Tehran saying Washington will regret its actions. This was conveyed by Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Thursday (5 March 2026). DetikNews, citing AFP, reported Araghchi accusing the US of brutality for sinking the IRIS Dena frigate off the coast of Sri Lanka. Araghchi described the attack as carried out in international waters without warning, and he referenced the precedent set by the US with its strike on the Iranian warship IRIS Dena. ‘The United States has committed cruelty at sea, 2,000 miles from Iran’s coastline. The Dena frigate, a guest of the Indian Navy with nearly 130 sailors aboard, was struck in international waters without warning,’ Araghchi said in a statement posted on X. ‘Remember my words: the US will greatly regret the precedent it has set.’ Earlier, US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth announced that an American submarine had sunk an Iranian warship in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Sri Lanka. ‘An American submarine sank an Iranian warship, thinking they were safe in international waters. But the ship was sunk by a torpedo,’ he said. He described the strike as the ‘silent death’ and the first sinking of an enemy warship by the US with a torpedo since World War II. The Iranian warship had briefly sent a distress call at dawn, according to Sri Lanka Navy spokesperson Buddhika Sampath. However IRIS Dena had already sunk completely by the time rescue vessels reached the area about an hour later, leaving an oil slick on the surface of the sea. The warship was reported to have participated in a naval drill near Visakhapatnam in eastern India. The attack occurred about 40 kilometres south of Galle, Sri Lanka. Sampath said Sri Lanka’s response to the distress call was in line with its maritime duties. ‘This lies within our search-and-rescue area in the Indian Ocean,’ he told AFP. Sri Lanka remains neutral and has repeatedly urged dialogue to resolve conflict in the Middle East. The incident left at least 87 sailors dead, with 61 reported missing.