Indian foreign minister speaks with Iranian counterpart Araghchi after US attack on warship

NEW DELHI

Indian Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar on Thursday spoke with Iranian counterpart Seyed Abbas Araghchi, a day after the US attack on an Iranian warship in the Indian Ocean.

“Had a telecon with Iranian FM Seyed Abbas Araghchi this afternoon,” Jaishankar wrote on US social media company X, without providing further details.

It was not immediately clear whether the two discussed the reported sinking of the Iranian warship.

The Iranian warship IRIS Dena had recently taken part in the Milan 2026 multinational naval exercise, held by India, and fleet review held in the Bay of Bengal before the incident.

It was returning home when it was struck by a US submarine torpedo in waters off Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka, after receiving the distress call from the warship, launched joint operations and rescued dozens of soldiers from the waters in the impact area.

At least 87 sailors were confirmed killed in the attack, while many others remain missing. Thirty-two injured crew members were taken to Karapitiya Teaching Hospital in the southern Sri Lankan city of Galle.

Araghchi earlier said the warship had approximately 130 sailors on board.

The attack occurred as Israel and the US continue large-scale strikes on Iran that began Saturday.

Iranian authorities say at least 926 people have been killed in the attacks, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and several senior military officials.

Iran has responded with drone and missile attacks targeting Israel and Gulf countries hosting US military assets.

On Thursday, Jaishankar also spoke with Oman counterpart Sayyid Badr bin Hamad bin Hamood Albusaidi discussing ongoing conflict in the Middle East.

Indian Navy part of search efforts

Separately, the Indian Navy said Thursday that a distress call from the IRIS Dena was received by the Maritime Information Fusion Centre in Colombo early Wednesday, and the Iranian vessel was operating 20 nautical miles West of Galle

It said it soon launched search and rescue efforts to “augment the search efforts led by Sri Lanka,” deploying choppers as well as vessels.

“Coordination with the Sri Lankan side on search and rescue efforts is ongoing,” it said.