A second Iranian warship,’Bushehr’ was moving toward Sri Lanka’s territorial waters on Thursday, one day after a US submarine destroyed an Iranian frigate and killed at least 87 sailors, a Sri Lankan minister told parliament. Authorities fear the new vessel could also become a target of the US military, which, alongwith ally Israel, is tageting Iranian assets in West Asia.
Minister Nalinda Jayatissa said the second Iranian warship was just outside Sri Lanka’s waters but did not provide more details.
President Anura Kumara Dissanayake met top officials on Thursday to discuss how to respond to Iran’s request to allow the ship to enter the island’s waters for safety, according to official sources.
They said the vessel had more than 100 crew members and there were fears it could also be attacked the same way a sister ship was sunk by a US submarine near Sri Lanka’s southern coast on Wednesday.
The sinking of IRIS Dena happened as the war, triggered by a joint US-Israel attack on Iran, continued to spread across the Middle East and other regions.
Iran’s statement
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Thursday strongly criticised the US attack and warned Washington it would “bitterly regret” what it had done.
“The US 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,” he posted on X. “Mark my words: The US will come to bitterly regret precedent it has set.”
Sri Lankan authorities have started an investigation into the deaths of the sailors in the southern port city of Galle. Chief magistrate Sameera Dodangoda has ordered autopsies.
The development comes just days after the Iranian frigate IRIS Dena sank in the Indian Ocean about 40 nautical miles off Sri Lanka’s southern coast. Survivors told Sri Lankan authorities that there had been an explosion on the ship before it went down.
The Sri Lankan Navy rescued 32 sailors from the water and recovered several bodies. According to officials, the crew members were treated for hypothermia and trauma after being brought ashore.
Conflicting accounts about the attack
Sources in Sri Lanka’s navy and defence ministry said the vessel had been attacked by a submarine and that at least 101 crew members were initially reported missing.
However, a Sri Lankan navy spokesman rejected the claim that 101 sailors were missing and also said authorities could not confirm the cause of the ship’s sinking. Sri Lanka’s deputy foreign minister told local television that at least 80 people were killed in the incident. There were 180 sailors on board the IRIS Dena when it sank.
US Military claims major strikes on Iran’s navy
The United States has said that its operations against Iran’s navy are part of the wider war launched last week. US Central Command said it had already sunk 17 Iranian warships and was continuing operations.
“I want to remind everyone that this is an incredible demonstration of America’s global reach to hunt, find and kill an out-of-area destroyer [and] is something that only the United States can do at this type of scale,” said Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff. Caine said the torpedo sent the ship “to the bottom of the sea.”
Central Command later said American forces have struck or sunk more than 20 Iranian ships since the conflict began.
Sri Lanka finds itself in a sensitive geopolitical situation. The country helped rescue sailors from a ship that the United States said it destroyed, while also reportedly assisting another Iranian vessel nearby. At the same time, Sri Lanka is still recovering from its 2022 economic collapse and owes about $7.4 billion to Chinese creditors.
China is Iran’s main diplomatic supporter, while the United States and India are key security and economic partners for Sri Lanka. With several major powers involved in the conflict, any humanitarian action taken by Sri Lanka is likely to be closely watched by governments and intelligence agencies around the world.