Iranian warship IRIS Dena, sunk by US sub off Sri Lanka, was reviewed by Prez Murmu two weeks ago

Before its return journey, the Iranian warship IRIS Dena had participated in India’s International Fleet Review 2026

• US submarine sank Iranian warship IRIS Dena off Sri Lanka's coast
• At least 87 dead, 32 rescued, around 60 still missing
• Incident marks major escalation in Indian Ocean naval tensions

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At least 87 people died after a US submarine sank an Iranian warship in the Indian Ocean.

US defence secretary Pete Hegseth said that an American submarine carried out the strike on the Iranian vessel off the southern coast of Sri Lanka, marking a major escalation in naval operations in the region.

"An American submarine sank an Iranian warship that thought it was ​safe in international waters," Hegseth said at the Pentagon. "Instead, it was sunk by a torpedo. Quiet death."

⁠Hospital officials in the Sri Lankan port city of Galle said military rescuers responding to an early morning distress call brought in 87 bodies.

Another 32 people were rescued and taken to hospital for treatment, while authorities said around 60 individuals remained unaccounted for out of an estimated 180 people on board.

Before its return journey, the Iranian warship IRIS Dena had participated in India’s International Fleet Review 2026. It was also listed on the exercise website as part of a naval drill conducted in the Bay of Bengal from February 18 to 25.

Two weeks earlier, the Eastern Naval Command had welcomed the ship during a port call at Visakhapatnam.

In a post on X, the command wrote: “Welcome! Indian Navy welcomes IRIS Dena, of the Iranian Navy, on her arrival at #Visakhapatnam to participate in #IFR2026_India and #MILAN2026, reflecting long-standing cultural links between the two nations.”

Moreover, India’s President Droupadi Murmu had reviewed the ship at the time of the multinational naval event.

Video footage of Iranian Navy ship IRIS Dena, which has been sunk by US Submarine off Sri Lanka’s coast, at the IFR 2026 in Vishakhapatnam in February, reviewed by the President of India. pic.twitter.com/0m56MWbxAp

— Man Aman Singh Chhina (@manaman_chhina) March 4, 2026

A Pentagon video purporting to have captured the attack showed the warship being hit by a huge explosion which blew apart the rear of the vessel, lifting it from the water, and caused it to begin sinking from the stern.

The exact date when the video was filmed and the type of warship could not ​be verified. However, the deck shape and mast of the vessel in the video matched file imagery of the same type of warship as the IRIS ​Dena.