The surviving sailor of the Iranian warship Iris Dina has described the horrific US strike that sank his warship last month, killing 104 crew members, in the Indian Ocean near Sri Lanka.
The injured sailor, Hamed Momina, claimed that the Americans’ intention was to “kill the crew,” adding that there had been no warning before the attack.“It was about 3:00 to 3:30 in the morning when we were subjected to a surprise attack – an attack that was completely against international maritime laws. It was not a war zone, and we received no warning. The attack was carried out without warning by a submarine. When the first torpedo hit, all personnel were in position, and fortunately at that moment we had no casualties.
There were 104 crew members on board, and no one left the ship.
Al-Bahar told Tasnim news agency, quoting the Iranian embassy, saying: Everyone stood their ground until the end.He added: “If their goal was only to damage the ship, they could have targeted other parts, but the main goal was to kill the crew. However, we stood firm until the end. For us, Dina was like the soil of Iran, and leaving it did not make any sense. The forces remained with the ship until 11 p.m., after which they were forced to swim a distance in the ocean to reach areas close to the coast of Sri Lanka.”
The IRIS Dena was hit by a MK-48 torpedo fired by a US submarine on March 4, about 40 nautical miles off the coast of Sri Lanka near Galle. The ship was sailing in international waters after participating in the Indian multinational naval exercise in Milan. 104 crew members were killed in the accident. 87 bodies were recovered and 32 sailors rescued.