US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth confirmed that a US submarine sank the Iranian frigate IRIS Dena with torpedoes in international waters south of Sri Lanka. After the incident, tension has increased on the Indian Ocean and global shipping routes.
Iran-US War Latest News: Israel-America’s war with Iran is getting worse. On Wednesday, March 4, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth confirmed that a United States Navy submarine targeted and sank an Iranian warship with torpedoes off the southern coast of Sri Lanka late Tuesday night. Due to this incident, the ongoing tension in the Middle East has now reached its peak.
Attack in international waters, US took responsibility
According to Hegseth, the target was an Iranian frigate operating in international waters off Sri Lanka’s coastline. According to Hegseth, an American submarine sank this Iranian warship with a torpedo. He clearly said that the responsibility of this attack lies directly with America. Although the Middle East is the epicenter of the current conflict, the attack took place thousands of kilometers south of Sri Lanka, near busy sea lanes.
Scroll to load tweet…
Historic military action in the Indian Ocean
According to Hegseth, this is the first time since the Second World War that America has targeted an enemy ship in the Indian Ocean. This step is an indication that the current conflict is now spreading beyond the traditional areas and its scope is increasing rapidly. Sri Lanka became involved in the incident when its coast guard received an emergency signal at 5:08 am on Wednesday. Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath said that this call had come from the Iranian ship IRIS Dena. Crew members of the ship had informed about the explosion.
The incident occurred 44 nautical miles away from Galle.
According to Herath, by 6 am we had sent one naval ship and by 7 am we had sent another naval ship. He also clarified that Sri Lanka was mandated to respond under the International Maritime Search and Rescue Convention. The incident occurred about 44 nautical miles (about 81 kilometers) from Sri Lanka’s southern city of Galle. This area is outside Sri Lanka’s regional waters, but falls within its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).
Damage to modern Iranian frigate
IRIS Dena was one of the most modern frigates of the Iranian Navy. It was armed with surface-to-air missiles, anti-ship missiles, torpedo launchers, cannon and machine guns. According to reports, the ship was returning after attending an International Fleet Review recently organized by the Indian Navy when it was attacked.
Increasing global tension and threat to sea routes
This submarine attack happened at a time when tension was already high after the joint operation between America and Israel against Iran over the weekend. Experts believe that this incident can further instigate the conflict. This could expand the geography of fighting beyond the Middle East and increase the threat to major shipping routes in the Indian Ocean. For Sri Lanka, located near the world’s busiest maritime corridor, this incident is a sign that the conflict between global powers may now extend to regional waters.