The US torpedoed the Iranian frigate IRIS Dena, which had been sailing back after participating in a naval exercise with the Indian Navy, even as India had earlier offered the vessel shelter at one of its ports after the commencement of the US–Israel attacks on Iran rendered its onward voyage precarious, though the American salvo ultimately consigned the warship to the depths off the southern coast of Sri Lanka.
According to The Indian Express, New Delhi had conveyed its willingness to allow the Iranian vessel to seek refuge at an Indian harbour as tensions in West Asia spiralled, although the frigate was sunk before such an arrangement could materialise.
The Dena had earlier docked at Visakhapatnam after participating in the International Fleet Review 2026 and the multinational naval manoeuvres MILAN 2026 naval exercise, both hosted by the Indian Navy, and departed the eastern Indian port once the exercises concluded on February 25.
Its return voyage across the Indian Ocean, however, ended abruptly in the early hours of March 4 when a United States submarine launched a torpedo strike that crippled the vessel roughly 20 nautical miles west of Galle.
The attack, which unfolded amid rapidly escalating hostilities between Washington, Tel Aviv and Iran, resulted in the deaths of 87 sailors aboard the frigate, while 32 survivors were rescued by Sri Lankan authorities who carried out search and recovery operations in the surrounding waters.
India’s naval response to the incident remained measured, with the Indian Navy stating that it had dispatched a maritime patrol aircraft to the vicinity within hours of the sinking, while a training vessel operating in the region was diverted towards the search zone later the same evening.
Meanwhile, Tehran had made what Indian government sources described as an urgent request on February 28 for another Iranian warship, the IRIS Lavan, to be permitted to dock at Kochi, citing technical complications aboard the vessel. New Delhi approved the request on March 1, and the Lavan, carrying a crew of 183 personnel, subsequently berthed in the southern port days later.
Separately, Anura Kumara Dissanayake, President of Sri Lanka, disclosed that Iran had earlier sought permission for three of its naval vessels — including the Dena and the IRIS Bushehr — to enter Sri Lankan ports between March 9 and 13.
The geopolitical reverberations widened further after Reuters reported that the United States had urged Colombo not to repatriate the survivors of the Dena or the personnel aboard the Bushehr to Iran, while India’s restrained diplomatic response to the sinking has meanwhile drawn criticism from several quarters.