An Iranian ship sank today off the coast of Sri Lanka; the vessel is one of Iran's newest warships, Reuters and AP report, writes UNN.
Details
"Iranian warship sinks off Sri Lanka coast," Reuters reports.
Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Wijitha Herath informed parliament that the Sri Lankan Navy had received information that the IRIS Dena ship with 180 people on board was in distress, and that the island nation had dispatched ships and air force planes on a rescue mission.
Reuters, citing sources in the Sri Lankan Navy and Ministry of Defense, reported that "the vessel was attacked by a submarine, and at least 101 people are missing as a result of the incident that occurred off the Indian Ocean coast of Sri Lanka."
"Defense sources said it was unclear who attacked the ship," Reuters indicates.
At the same time, a spokesman for the Sri Lankan Navy, as stated, said that reports of 101 missing people were untrue and dismissed any reports about the cause of the ship's sinking. He added that Sri Lankan forces had also not observed any other ships or aircraft in the area of the incident.
A senior Sri Lankan official said that 32 people were rescued from the sinking Iranian warship off the southern coast of Sri Lanka and were hospitalized. Dr. Anil Jasinghe, a senior official at the Ministry of Health, says that one of them is in critical condition, seven are receiving emergency care, and the others are being treated for minor injuries.
"The Iranian vessel that sank off Sri Lanka, the IRIS Dena, is one of Iran's newest warships," the AP publication states.
The frigate, as stated, was a central part of a two-ship international tour in 2023, which included port calls in countries such as South Africa and Brazil. It was accompanied by the auxiliary ship IRIS Makran, a converted oil tanker.
The US Treasury Department included both ships in its sanctions list in February 2023, along with eight executives of an Iranian drone manufacturer that supplied weapons to Russia for use against civilian targets in Ukraine.