Colombo: A day after an American submarine destroyed IRIS Dena, killing 87 sailors, a second Iranian warship was heading towards Sri Lanka on Thursday.
Sri Lankan MP Namal Rajapaksa confirmed that the ship was just outside the country’s territorial waters, and has requested for an “urgent port call”.
“It has been brought to our notice that another Iranian vessel is in Sri Lanka’s Exclusive Economic Zone, just outside our territorial waters and has sought the government’s permission to make an urgent port call. However, it is yet awaiting the government’s clearance,” Rajapaksa wrote on X.
His statement comes after Sri Lanka’s Media minister Nalinda Jayatissa said a second Iranian warship was just outside Sri Lankan waters, but gave no further details.
On Wednesday, Iranian frigate IRIS Dena was torpedoed and sank by a US submarine in Sri Lankan waters in the Indian Ocean as it was returning from a military exercise in the Indian port city of Visakhapatnam.
US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth confirmed the destruction of the warship and boasted a “huge win” for Washington.
“America is winning decisively, devastatingly and without mercy. Under the direct command of President Trump, the War Department unleashed this operation early Saturday morning,” Hegseth said, adding that the US will ensure it succeeds in this joint operation with Israel.
Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi warned US that it will regret the act.
“The U.S. has perpetrated an atrocity at sea, 2,000 miles away from Iran’s shores. Frigate Dena, a guest of India’s Navy carrying almost 130 sailors, was struck in international waters without warning. Mark my words: The U.S. will come to bitterly regret precedent it has set,” Araghchi posted on X.
