Speaking at a Pentagon briefing on Wednesday, Hegseth said the strike was carried out on Tuesday night amid the escalating Israel-Iran conflict.
IMAGE: A screengrab from the video of the strike released by US Department of War. Photograph: ANI on X
Key Points
- US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said a torpedo fired from an American submarine destroyed an Iranian warship in international waters.
- Hegseth described the Tuesday night attack as the first time since World War II that a US submarine had sunk an enemy vessel.
- He asserted that US and Israeli forces would soon establish complete control over Iranian airspace.
- Earlier, Sri Lanka reported its Navy rescued 32 Iranian sailors from a naval ship that sank off the southern coast.
- Lanka confirmed the vessel was Iranian and said the rescued crew members were wearing Iranian naval uniforms.
United States Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth said that 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.
“An American submarine sunk an Iranian warship that thought it was safe in international waters,” Hegseth told reporters.
“Instead, it was sunk by a torpedo.”
Hegseth said the US military sank the Iranian ship named after ‘Soleimani’, the former Iranian general Qasem Soleimani who was killed by US forces during President Donald Trump’s first term.
“I guess POTUS got him twice,” Hegseth said, referring to General Soleimani.
Sri Lanka said its Navy rescued 32 Iranian sailors from a naval ship that sank off the southern coast, while several bodies were recovered from the site.
Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath told Parliament that an emergency message was received by the Sri Lanka Navy and Coast Guard at 5.08 am regarding a sinking ship named IRIS Dena, located about 40 nautical miles off the southern port district of Galle.
Herath said that the Sri Lanka Navy and Air Force carried out a joint rescue operation.
“Thirty of them were rescued while around 180 were said to be on board,” he said.
He said that the reason for the sinking had not yet been established.
The Iranian ship recently participated in an international naval drill hosted by India. There was no immediate comment from the Indian Navy.
Sri Lanka denied submarine attack earlier
Sri Lankan Navy spokesperson Commander Buddhika Sampath told reporters in Colombo that several bodies were found near the location of the distress signal, though the exact number was not immediately available.
“At this point, it is difficult to give any numbers, but bodies have been found. As they were found closer to the point of distress, it is accepted that they were from the same ship,” he said.
“When our teams reached the scene, we observed a large oil slick, indicating that the ship had sunk,” Sampath added.
In response to a question, the spokesperson had categorically rejected media reports that the ship had been sunk in a submarine attack.
“We are only concerned about our obligation to rescue them as first responders under international maritime obligations,” he said.
Sampath said the cause of the distress signal would be determined later through investigations by specialised authorities.
Although the incident occurred outside Sri Lankan territorial waters, it fell within the country’s search and rescue zone, he said.
Sampath confirmed the vessel was Iranian and said the rescued crew members were wearing Iranian naval uniforms.
Air Force spokesman Nalin Wewakumbura said no other vessels or aircraft were detected in the area where the distress signal originated.
Hearth said Sri Lankan is bound by international conventions on maritime rescue to assist anyone in distress, irrespective of the reason.
The rescued sailors were taken to the Navy’s Southern Command headquarters and later admitted to Karapitiya Hospital in Galle, Herath added.
Security around the Southern Command had been stepped up, officials said.
Referring to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, Herath said Sri Lanka deeply regretted the situation and urged a peaceful resolution.
