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An injured Iranian sailor receives treatment at the Karapitiya hospital in Galle on March 4, 2026, after his frigate, IRIS Dena, sank off Sri Lanka’s coast.
| Photo Credit: AFP
A US submarine torpedoed and sank an Iranian warship in the Indian Ocean, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Wednesday.
“An American submarine sunk an Iranian warship that thought it was safe in international waters. Instead, it was sunk by a torpedo,” Hegseth told reporters.
The U.S. strike triggered a distress call, and the Sri Lankan armed forces launched a search and rescue operation. Sri Lankan authorities said they had rescued 32 people so far and recovered several bodies from the sea.
Sources in Sri Lanka’s navy and defence ministry said the vessel had been attacked by a submarine and at least 101 people were missing in the incident that took place off Sri Lanka’s Indian Ocean coast.
The defence sources said it was unclear who attacked the ship.
A Sri Lankan navy spokesman said the report of 101 people being missing was not true and rejected any reports on the cause of the ship sinking.
U.S. strikes on Iran’s Navy is a central part of the war against Iran, launch by the United States on Saturday (February 28, 2026).
On Tuesday (March 3, 2026), the U.S. military’s Central Command said it had already sunk 17 Iranian warships and was on track to destroy Iran’s entire navy.
(With inputs from AFP and Reuters)
Published – March 04, 2026 06:55 pm IST
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U.S. carried out strike on Iranian warship off Sri Lanka coast, Pentagon chief says
