New Delhi: Iran’s deputy Foreign Minister Saeed Khatibzadeh on Friday slammed the US submarine strike that sank an Iranian frigate off Sri Lankan coast, stressing the vessel was unarmed and returning from India’s flagship multilateral naval exercise, and vowing such actions “cannot go with impunity.”
The IRIS Dena was torpedoed two days ago on its way back to Iran from the 12th edition of Milan 2026 – India’s premier biennial multilateral maritime exercise which was held in Visakhapatnam from February 20-27. At least 87 Iranian sailors died in the attack.
Speaking on the sidelines of the Raisina Dialogue, Khatibzadeh described the ship as “ceremonial, unloaded and unarmed,” invited by “our Indian friends” for the international exercise.
He mourned the loss of young sailors and linked the incident to escalating US hostilities, including the February 28 assassination of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. He charged that selective application of international law threatens global diplomacy.
“Tehran is under constant attack, and we have no option but to resist to the last bullet that we do have and to the last soldier that we have. This is a very heroic, very nationalistic battle for us, and we have to stop the aggressor,” he said.
In response to a question on India’s position on the West Asia crisis, Khatibzadeh said, “Iran and India have all civilisational roots with each other. We are Indo-Persian culture and civilisation, and it is very much in line with this cultural civilisational heritage, and we attach great importance to Iran-India relations,” as reported by The Hindu.
After days of silence, India on Thursday condoled Khamenei’s death.
The conflict between US-Israel and Iran has intensified with Tehran conducting retaliatory strikes on Israel and American bases in the UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Oman, stoking fears of an extended West Asia war.