Anadolu staff
05 March 2026•Update: 05 March 2026
ISTANBUL
Iran’s foreign minister on Thursday said that 130 sailors were aboard an Iranian warship that was hit by the US a day earlier off the coast of Sri Lanka.
"The U.S. has perpetrated an atrocity at sea, 2,000 miles away from Iran's shores. Frigate Dena, a guest of India's Navy carrying almost 130 sailors, was struck in international waters without warning," Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi wrote on US social media platform X.
"Mark my words: The U.S. will come to bitterly regret precedent it has set," he warned.
So far, at least 87 sailors are confirmed dead after the IRIS Dena ship was attacked by a US torpedo near the South Asian Island nation of Sri Lanka on Wednesday.
Sri Lankan authorities said 32 sailors of the IRIS Dena vessel were wounded and are being treated at the Karapitiya Teaching Hospital in Galle.
A search and recovery operation is underway in the waters off the southern city of Galle for the missing sailors.
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth confirmed that American forces attacked the Iranian warship, which had participated in a naval drill off the Indian coast last month.
The IRIS Dena is a Moudge-class frigate serving in the Iranian Navy’s Southern Fleet.
Before the attack, the Iranian warship had taken part in the Milan 2026 multinational naval exercise and fleet review held in the Bay of Bengal. It was on the way home.
The attack came as Israel and the US have continued a large-scale attack on Iran since Saturday, killing at least 926 people, including Khamenei and top military officials.
Iran has retaliated with drone and missile strikes targeting Israel as well as Gulf countries that are home to US military assets.
A Sri Lankan minister on Thursday said that another Iranian vessel is currently within Sri Lanka’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), according to Daily Mirror.
“The government is aware of the matter. We are making the necessary interventions to resolve the issue, restrict any threat to lives, and ensure regional security,” Health Minister Nalinda Jayatissa told parliament while responding to a question from the opposition leader regarding the presence of another Iranian vessel.
He added that the ship was not in Sri Lanka’s territorial waters, but “it is within the Exclusive Economic Zone,” and the government is taking maximum measures to ensure the safety of lives.
