US submarine sank Iranian warship off Sri Lanka’s coast, Hegseth says

US submarine sank Iranian warship off Sri Lanka’s coast, Hegseth says Defence secretary confirms strike on Iris Dena in first US attack on Iranian forces outside Middle East during conflict Middle East crisis – live updates The US has carried out a submarine torpedo strike that sank an Iranian warship off the south coast of Sri Lanka , according to the US secretary of defence. Pete Hegseth confirmed that the US was behind the deadly strike on an Iranian frigate that killed at least 80 people, as it was sailing close to the Sri Lankan coast. “An American submarine sunk an Iranian warship that thought it was safe in international waters,” Hegseth said. He said the attack was carried out by a US navy submarine late on Tuesday night. “It was sunk by a torpedo, a quiet death – the first sinking of an enemy ship by a torpedo since world war II,” said Hegseth. “Like in that war, back when we were still the war department, we are fighting to win.” According to Sri Lanka’s foreign affairs minister, Vijitha Herath, the Sri Lankan coastguard received a distress call from an Iranian navy ship, the Iris Dena, at 5.08am on Wednesday. Crew members had described the incident as an explosion. “By 6am we dispatched a naval vessel and by 7am the second naval vessel,” Herath said. He said Sri Lanka had an obligation to respond to their call for help as the country was a signatory to the international convention on maritime search and rescue. The Iranian ship was outside Sri Lanka’s territorial waters but still within its economic zone, 44 nautical miles (81km) off the southern coastal city of Galle. Sri Lankan officials confirmed that at least 80 people were killed in the strike. According to officials, 32 of the crew were rescued and taken to a hospital in Galle. The deadly strike comes amid the war in the Middle East, after the US and Israel launched joint strikes on Iran over the weekend. The submarine strike marks an escalation in hostilities and is the first US attack on Iran’s mi...