Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Saeed Khatibzadeh claimed on Friday that the Iranian ship IRIS Dena was “unarmed and unloaded” during its return voyage after participating in naval exercises in India, days after a US submarine torpedoed the warship in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Sri Lanka.
Khatibzadeh, who is visiting India amid the ongoing US-Iranian conflict that has flared up among several other countries in the Middle East, condemned the attack on the Iranian ship that led to the death of 87 sailors. “This is a very sad and very unfortunate incident. This ship was at the invitation of our Indian friends to attend an international exercise. It was ceremonial. It was unloaded. It was not armed,” PTI quoted him as saying.
The sinking of the IRIS Dena ship off the Sri Lankan coast on Wednesday, March 4, further exacerbated the US-Iranian conflict and tensions in the Middle East. Days before the US attack, the Iranian ship participated in the International Fleet Review in Visakhapatnam and Andhra Pradesh and the multi-nation Milan 2026 exercise.
Read also: From beach selfies to sea grave: The last days of the crew of the ill-fated Iranian Navy ship Iris Dina in India
In its first reaction to the sinking of the IRIS Dena ship on Thursday, Iran criticized the United States for targeting a “guest of the Indian Navy” without warning. However, government sources told HT that the ship was India’s guest only until February 25 and did not seek any help from the country after the US-Iran conflict escalated last week.
Later in the day, the Indian Navy issued a statement saying it had received a distress call from the Maritime Rescue Coordination Center in Colombo after the ship IRIS Dena was hit in the Indian Ocean. Detailing the efforts undertaken by the Navy to assist the ship, the Navy said in a statement: “A long-range maritime patrol aircraft was deployed at 1000 hours on 4 March 26 to reinforce the Sri Lanka-led search efforts. Another aircraft equipped with air-droppable liferafts was also kept on standby for immediate deployment.”
India also said it had deployed the ship INS Tarangini for search and rescue efforts, but the Sri Lanka Navy and other agencies had already done so by then.
Meanwhile, the Iranian minister currently visiting India spoke about the joint US-Israeli attack on Iran and the killing of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and said that international law has been violated. “The Americans assassinated the head of another country. If this is the new norm, then no one, nor any country on earth, can actually achieve diplomatic normalization with other countries,” he said, adding that Tehran continues to resist against the United States.
Tensions have been rising between the United States and Iran for several weeks, but the conflict escalated last week after strikes were reported in Tehran. To confront the United States, Tehran targeted its bases and consulates in several Middle Eastern countries. The conflict has escalated since then, with airspace closed and many flights canceled across the UAE, including Dubai and Abu Dhabi, which are major tourist hotspots.
