A day after an Iranian warship, which was returning from Visakhapatnam following an exercise organised by the Indian Navy last month, was , Iranian Foreign Affairs Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi warned the US of setting the wrong precedent, also calling Frigate Dena “a guest of India’s Navy”.
The warship, carrying 130 sailors, was sunken off the southern coast of Sri Lanka in the early hours of Wednesday.
In a post on X on Thursday, Araghchi said, “The US 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. Mark my words: The US will come to bitterly regret (the) precedent it has set.” The post was reposted by the Iranian Foreign Ministry handle.
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.
Mark my words: The U.S. will come to bitterly regret precedent it has set.
— Seyed Abbas Araghchi (@araghchi)
In a Pentagon briefing, US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said the strike on the warship was the first such attack on an enemy since World War II. “An American submarine sunk an Iranian warship that thought it was safe in international waters,” Hegseth said. “Instead, it was sunk by a torpedo. Quiet death.”
The incident occurred amid a rapidly escalating conflict involving the United States, Israel and Iran.
The IRIS Dena, a Moudge-class frigate belonging to the Iranian Navy’s Southern Fleet, issued a distress call around 5.30 am local time while operating roughly 40 nautical miles off the coastal city of Galle.
The warship had participated in the International Fleet Review (IFR) and multilateral exercise, MILAN-2026, organised by the Indian Navy last month. The Indian Navy had extended a warm welcome to the frigate as it arrived in Visakhapatnam in the third week of February.
The US Navy destroyer USS Pinckney, which was also scheduled to take part in the IFR and MILAN, did not participate due to emergent requirements. A US P-8 aircraft had participated in the exercises.
Indian defence sources said the incident falls within Sri Lanka’s assigned area of operation. New and the Indian Navy has not yet made any official comment on the incident.
