US Submarine Sinks Iranian Warship Near Sri Lanka, 80 Sailors Dead

• Around 80 Iranian sailors were found dead and 32 rescued after the Iranian frigate IRIS Dena sank about 40 nautical miles off Sri Lanka’s southern coast.

• US War Secretary Pete Hegseth said an American submarine torpedoed the Iranian warship, calling it the first sinking of an enemy vessel by torpedo since World War II.

• Sri Lankan authorities launched a joint Navy–Air Force rescue operation after receiving a distress signal near Galle, with bodies and survivors taken to hospital there.

Sri Lankan authorities on Wednesday said that they have recovered some 80 bodies of Iranian sailors killed after a US submarine attack that sank an Iranian naval ship off the island's southern coast.

32 Iranian sailors were rescued by Sri Lanka's Navy from the Iranian frigate IRIS Dena in the southern waters early this morning, according to prior reports. There were about 180 sailors aboard the frigate.

US War Secretary Pete Hegseth claimed that a US submarine sank an Iranian cruiser in international waters, despite the Sri Lankan Navy's refusal to explain the ship's distress call.

He said it was the first sinking of an enemy vessel by torpedo since World War II.

The Iranian ship recently participated in an international naval drill hosted by India. There was no immediate comment from the Indian Navy.

"An American submarine sunk an Iranian warship that thought it was safe in international waters,” Hegseth told reporters in Washington. “Instead, it was sunk by a torpedo." Hegseth said the US military sank the Iranian ship named after "Soleimani”, the former Iranian Quds force chief general Qasem Soleimani, who was killed by US forces during President Donald Trump’s first term.

"I guess POTUS got him twice,” Hegseth said, referring to General Soleimani.

Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath told Parliament that an emergency message was received by the Sri Lanka Navy and Coast Guard at 5.08 am regarding a sinking ship named IRIS Dena, located about 40 nautical miles off the southern port district of Galle.

Herath said that the Sri Lanka Navy and Air Force carried out a joint rescue operation.

"Thirty of them were rescued while around 180 were said to be on board,” he said.

According to officials, some 80 Iranian sailors' bodies had been found.

The bodies are currently at the hospital in Karapitiya, Galle, according to Arun Hemachandra, Deputy Foreign Minister of Sri Lanka.

Commander Buddhika Sampath, a spokesman for the Sri Lankan Navy, had informed reporters in Colombo that multiple bodies had been discovered close to the distress signal area, however the precise number was not immediately known.

“At this point, it is difficult to give any numbers, but bodies have been found. As they were found closer to the point of distress, it is accepted that they were from the same ship," he said.

“When our teams reached the scene, we observed a large oil slick, indicating that the ship had sunk," Sampath added.

In response to a question, the spokesperson had categorically rejected media reports that the ship had been sunk in a submarine attack.

“We are only concerned about our obligation to rescue them as first responders under international maritime obligations,” he said.

Sampath said the cause of the distress signal would be determined later through investigations by specialised authorities.

Although the incident occurred outside Sri Lankan territorial waters, it fell within the country's search and rescue zone, he said.

Sampath confirmed the vessel was Iranian and the rescued crew members were wearing Iranian naval uniforms.

Air Force spokesman Nalin Wewakumbura said no other vessels or aircraft were detected in the area where the distress signal originated.

According to Hearth, Sri Lanka is obligated under international sea rescue conventions to help anyone in need, regardless of the cause.

According to Herath, the rescued sailors were transported to the Navy's Southern Command headquarters before being transferred to Karapitiya Hospital in Galle.

Security around the Southern Command has been tightened, according to officials.

Herath stated that Sri Lanka sincerely lamented the situation and called for a peaceful resolution in reference to the current turmoil in the Middle East.