Sri Lanka recovers 87 bodies from Iranian warship sunk by a US submarine
A US submarine sank an Iranian warship off the coast of Sri Lanka, and Sri Lanka’s navy said on Wednesday it recovered 87 bodies and rescued 32 people.
The Iranian vessel that was sunk in the Indian Ocean was the Islamic Republic’s “prize ship”, US defence secretary Pete Hegseth said at a Pentagon news briefing.
Mr Hegseth said it was the first sinking of an enemy ship with a torpedo by the US since the Second World War.
Sri Lanka’s foreign minister Vijitha Herath told Parliament that its navy received information that the Iris Dena, with 180 people on board, was in distress and sinking.
The island nation sent ships and air force planes on a rescue mission, he said.
Navy spokesman Commander Buddhika Sampath said by the time navy ships reached the location, there was no sign of the ship and “there were only some oil patches and life rafts. We found people floating on the water”.
He said the 32 people rescued were admitted to a hospital in the seaside town of Galle on the Sri Lanka’s southern coast.
The bodies recovered were being brought to land, he said.
Dr Anil Jasinghe, a top health ministry official, said one of those rescued is in critical condition, seven are receiving emergency treatment and others are being treated for minor injuries.
The Iris Dena — one of Iran’s newest warships — is a Moudge-class frigate that patrols in deep water for the Iranian navy.
https://t.co/J4grAgoqxc pic.twitter.com/szOofLkh9W
— Department of War 🇺🇸 (@DeptofWar) March 4, 2026
It is armed with heavy guns, surface-to-air missiles, anti-ship missiles and torpedoes. It also carries one helicopter.
The frigate was the centrepiece of a two-ship international tour in 2023 that included port calls in countries including South Africa and Brazil.
It was accompanied by the support ship Iris Makran, a converted oil tanker.
The US Treasury Department included both ships on a sanctions designation in February 2023 along with eight executives of an Iranian drone manufacturer that supplied the weapons to Russia for use against civilian targets in Ukraine.
At least 17 Iranian naval vessels have been sunk during the ongoing war, said US Admiral Brad Cooper, who leads the American military’s Central Command.
“We are also sinking the Iranian navy — the entire navy,” he said in a video message.
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