The conflict between the U.S., Israel and Iran widened into the Indian Ocean when an American submarine sank an Iranian warship, the IRIS Dena, in international waters near Sri Lanka, NPR reports.
Sri Lankan authorities said they received a distress call and dispatched ships and aircraft. Rescue teams recovered more than 80 bodies and rescued more than 30 survivors; others remain missing. U.S. officials, including defense secretary Pete Hegseth, announced the Dena was struck by a torpedo. Hegseth described it as a “quiet death” and called it the first sinking of an enemy ship by torpedo since World War II.
The attack has heightened anxiety across South Asia. Analysts and former military officers questioned whether India or Sri Lanka were notified beforehand. The Dena had recently departed a ceremonial fleet review in an Indian port in late February overseen by the Indian president and defense minister Rajnath Singh; India has not commented on the sinking.
Observers say the incident sends a signal about U.S. naval reach and will alarm China, which is expanding its influence in the Indian Ocean. The sinking raises concerns about escalation and the risks of regional spillover as allied and rival powers assess their responses.
Report from Diaa Hadid, NPR News, Mumbai.