New Delhi: Just days before an American submarine sank Iranian warship IRIS Dena off the coast of Sri Lanka, Tehran had sought permission from India for another naval vessel, IRIS Lavan, to dock at Kochi due to technical issues.
IRIS Lavan was in the region reportedly for the International Fleet Review.
The request was received on February 28, the day US and Israeli joint strikes on Tehran killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. In its message to India, Iran said that the ship required urgent docking due to technical problem, CNN News18 reported citing government sources.
The Indian authorities granted approval for the docking on March 1, while IRIS Lavan arrived and docked at Kochi on March 4.
The 183 crew members have been accommodated at naval facilities in Kochi.
In the early hours of March 4, IRIS Dena was hit by a US submarine 40 nautical miles off Galle in southern Sri Lanka, while it was returning to Iran after participating in the MILAn multilateral naval exercise in Visakhapatnam.
After the ship sank, the bodies of 87 sailors were recovered.
