US Allegedly Cheating, Iranian Ship Shot While Not in a Combat Posture After Training in India

IRANIAN frigate Iris Dena has been sunk by a United States torpedo, in an ironic twist that the ship is believed to have been fired upon not in a combat position, but while returning home after taking part in a joint drill with the Indian Navy in the Bay of Bengal. As reported by The Guardian, India had gathered navies from 74 countries for the exercise in March. ‘Was the warship actively threatening or participating in hostilities?’ asked Wes Bryant, a former targeting and special operations analyst for the US Air Force. ‘You cannot say that this warship posed an immediate threat to anyone. If you target it, is the Trump administration saying that the immediate threat is the entire government and military of Iran? If so, this would be a very dangerous example of excessive military action.’ The former head of civilian casualty assessment at the Pentagon said the strike against Iris Dena was illegal. Iris Dena is Iran’s newest frigate, equipped with surface-to-air missiles, anti-ship missiles, a cannon, machine guns, and torpedo launchers. The ship carried 180 crew when it was shot in the Indian Ocean, about 44 nautical miles off the coast of Galle, Sri Lanka. That distance is well away from the location of the fighting in the Arabian Gulf. The frigate sailed in international waters. At least 87 Iranian sailors were killed in the attack on Iris Dena on Wednesday. According to Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath, the coast guard received an emergency call from Iris Dena at 5.08 a.m. on Wednesday. Crew members described the incident as an explosion. ‘At 6 a.m. we deployed a naval vessel and by 7 a.m. a second one,’ said Herath. He said Sri Lanka had a duty to respond to the call for assistance due to its status as a signatory to the international convention on search and rescue at sea.