• Source:JND
HighLights
  1. US submarine attack sank Iranian naval ship IRIS Dena.
  2. 80 Iranian sailors killed off Sri Lanka's southern coast.
  3. Major diplomatic setback for India's regional security role.

Sri Lankan authorities on Wednesday said that they have recovered some 80 bodies of Iranian sailors killed after a US submarine attack that sank an Iranian naval ship off the island's southern coast. Sri Lanka earlier said its Navy rescued 32 Iranian sailors from the distressed Iranian frigate - IRIS Dena- in the southern waters early on Wednesday morning. The frigate was carrying around 180 sailors on board. 

While the Sri Lankan Navy refused to give reasons as to what caused the vessel to make a distress plea, US War Secretary Pete Hegseth said a US submarine sank an Iranian warship in international waters. He said it was the first sinking of an enemy vessel by torpedo since World War II.

What happend in Indo-Pacific region?

The attack occurred in international waters, within Sri Lanka's exclusive economic zone but outside its territorial limits, and has dramatically extended the ongoing US-Israel conflict with Iran into the Indo-Pacific region.

The IRIS Dena, a Moudge-class frigate and a key asset of the Iranian Navy's Southern Fleet, had recently participated in India's MILAN 2026 multilateral naval exercises and the International Fleet Review in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, from February 18 to 25. It departed from the eastern Indian port and was en route back to Iran when the strike happened in the early morning hours.

India's soft power in Indian Ocean

This is a major setback in diplomacy for India as it has maintained a soft power in the region and presented itself as the Indian Ocean’s “preferred security partner” through MAHASAGAR (Mutual and Holistic Advancement for Security and Growth Across Regions). “Keeping in mind the Small Island States and Global South countries that depend on the sea for their livelihood, India is moving forward with a vision to create a green, prosperous, and shared ocean,” this was the statement when the vision was presented by Prime Minister Narendra Modi last year.

ALSO READ: US Submarine Strike Sinks Iranian Warship Near Sri Lanka Coast; 87 Dead, Several Missing

Why US airstrike on Iranain warship is major setback for India

The sinking of the Iranian ship has worried India a lot because it happened very close, in what many call India’s own backyard in the Indian Ocean. Experts and retired officers are alarmed that war is now right at India’s doorstep.

Dr. Brahma Chellaney, a geostrategist, took to X and dubbed the US torpedoing of the Iranian frigate IRIS Dena in India’s maritime backyard as more than a battlefield event; it is a strategic embarrassment for New Delhi. He called the Iranian ship a diplomatic guest of the Indian Navy.

“By sinking a vessel returning from an Indian-hosted multilateral exercise, Washington effectively turned India’s maritime neighbourhood into a war zone, raising uncomfortable questions about India’s authority in its own backyard,” said Chellaney.

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“In diplomatic terms, the strike violated the unwritten code of naval hospitality. Attacking a ship immediately after it leaves a host’s waters is widely seen as a slight to that host. The message to participating navies is stark: attending India’s exercises may not guarantee safety once they sail away,” opined the geostrategist.

“In one torpedo strike, American hard power has punctured India’s carefully cultivated soft power,” he noted.

(With inputs from agency)

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