US sub sinks Iranian warship in Indian Ocean, Hegseth says

USA: US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has said an American submarine sank an Iranian warship in the Indian Ocean.

He said the ship was sunk by a torpedo on Tuesday and died a “quiet death”. He did not name the vessel.

His announcement came after Sri Lanka said its navy had responded to a distress call on Wednesday morning from an Iranian ship named the Iris Dena, which had gone down about 40km (25 miles) from its southern coastline.

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Eighty bodies from the frigate were found by rescuers, a Sri Lankan defence official told BBC Sinhala. Another 32 were rescued, the country’s navy said.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the US had “perpetrated an atrocity at sea, 2,000 miles away from Iran’s shores”.