Iranian vessel targeted near Sri Lankan coast

TEHRAN:  87 people were martyred and 32 were injured in an attack by a US submarine on an Iranian ship near a Sri Lankan port.

According to a foreign news agency, the ship was returning after participating in an international fleet review in India and was near the coasts of India and Sri Lanka.

US Secretary of Defense Pat Hegseth confirmed the sinking of the Iranian ship and said that the US forces targeted and sank the Iranian warship in the Indian Ocean, which was carried out as part of the US military strategy.

He said that the Iranian warship thought that it would be safe in international waters, but it was not.

On the other hand, a statement issued by the Sri Lankan Foreign Ministry said that the Sri Lankan Navy was dispatched to rescue the crew of the Iranian ship Iris Dana upon receiving information about its sinking, but by the time the rescue ship reached the scene of the accident, the Iranian warship had sunk.

According to the Sri Lankan Foreign Ministry, 32 injured sailors have been evacuated from the ship and taken to a nearby hospital, while Sri Lanka’s Deputy Foreign Minister confirmed that 87 people were killed in the US attack on the Iranian ship.

It should be noted that the ship that suffered the accident, the IRIS Dina, was part of the 86th fleet of the Iranian Navy. It was a completely Iranian-made warship.

The ship, equipped with Noor and Qadr anti-ship missiles, is about 95 meters long and weighs about 1,500 tons, while it is equipped with 76 mm Fajr 27 naval guns and 30 mm weapons.

The ship has sailed around the world for about 65,000 kilometers between 2022 and 2023 and is considered a symbol of Iranian naval power.