In Video: First Visuals of Sri Lanka Navy Rescuing Survivors from Iranian Warship IRIS Dena Torpedo Attack

The first visuals have surfaced showing Sri Lanka’s navy rescuing Iranian sailors after their warship, IRIS Dena, was struck by a torpedo and sank on March 4, about 19 nautical miles off Galle. The attack left the vessel shattered in the Indian Ocean, triggering a desperate search and rescue mission.  

Sri Lanka’s Marine Rescue Coordinating Centre in Colombo received a distress alert from the ship and immediately mobilised naval units. Rescue teams pulled 32 sailors alive from the water and rushed them to hospitals in Galle, while 87 bodies were recovered. Officials say between 50 and 60 sailors remain missing, with the frigate believed to have carried around 180 crew members. Survivors are now under close medical care, with Iranian diplomats assisting at hospitals in southern Sri Lanka.  

The IRIS Dena had recently taken part in the Milan multilateral naval exercise hosted by India in the Bay of Bengal from February 18 to 25. The ship had docked at Visakhapatnam, where the Indian Navy welcomed it as part of long‑standing cultural and naval ties.  

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth confirmed the strike, stating at a Pentagon briefing: “An American submarine sank an Iranian warship that thought it was safe in international waters. Instead, it was sunk by a torpedo.” He added that the strike was part of a broader campaign to weaken Iran’s naval power.  

Sri Lanka’s Minister Thondaman explained that the rescue was carried out strictly on humanitarian grounds under international maritime conventions. “We received the distress alert and our defence authorities immediately instructed the navy to act,” he said.  

The sinking of the IRIS Dena marks a major escalation in the ongoing U.S.-Israeli military campaign against Iran. Until now, most strikes had been concentrated around the Persian Gulf. This attack, hundreds of miles away near Sri Lanka, shows how far the war has spread.  The incident underscores the widening scope of the war: what began as strikes on Iranian missile and naval sites inside the Middle East has now spilled into international waters. With funerals underway in Iran and survivors recovering in Sri Lanka, the attack highlights the growing human toll of a war that is rapidly expanding beyond Iran’s borders.  

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