The Pentagon has released dramatic footage showing the moment an Iranian warship was struck and destroyed by a US submarine in the Indian Ocean, marking a major escalation in the widening conflict in the Middle East.
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth confirmed that a US submarine torpedoed and sank the Iranian frigate IRIS Dena approximately 25 miles south of Sri Lanka.
Follow US Iran News live updates here
“Yesterday in the Indian Ocean, an American submarine sank an Iranian warship that thought it was safe in international waters,” Hegseth said at a Pentagon briefing.
“She was torpedoed instead – a silent death. The first torpedoing of an enemy ship since World War II.”
Heavy losses confirmed
Sri Lankan authorities have confirmed that at least 80 sailors were killed in the attack, with the death toll expected to rise.
So far, 87 bodies have been found.
61 sailors remain missing.
32 sailors were rescued and are being treated at a hospital in Galle.
“We have collected 87 bodies and the search is on for others who are still missing,” a Sri Lankan navy official told AFP.
The rescue operation was carried out by the Sri Lanka Navy.
A ship returning from an Indian exercise
The IRIS Dena was reportedly returning from a joint naval exercise in the eastern Indian port of Visakhapatnam when it was hit.
Officials said the ship exploded after being hit by a torpedo and then sank into the Indian Ocean.
The first sinking of a torpedo since World War II
Hegseth called the attack historic, calling it the first time since World War II that an enemy warship had been sunk by a torpedo.
The incident comes at a time of escalating hostilities following US and Israeli attacks on Iranian targets as part of President Donald Trump’s military campaign dubbed “Operation Epic Fury”.
Days earlier, the US military said it had targeted Iran’s largest warship.
Regional tensions are rising
The sinking of the IRIS Dena marks a dramatic expansion of the conflict into international waters near South Asia, raising concerns about maritime security in the Indian Ocean.
Search operations continue as Sri Lankan authorities attempt to locate the missing sailors.
