The Pentagon confirmed this Wednesday that a US submarine attacked the sunken Iranian ship with a torpedo off the coast of Sri Lanka, in what it has celebrated as the first of its kind since World War II.
“A US submarine sank an Iranian warship. It was in international waters and was sunk by a torpedo,” said the , in a press conference with the US Chief of Staff, Dan Caine, to update the situation within the framework of the operation launched against Iran last Saturday.
This has confirmed that the US Navy is behind the attack on the Iranian vessel. “A silent death,” said Hegseth, who noted that it was the “first sinking of an enemy ship by a torpedo since the Second World War.”
Several bodies recovered and 32 people rescued
This episode, in the opinion of the head of the Pentagon, shows Washington’s will to wage and win the war, as in the aforementioned conflict. The Sri Lankan Navy had reported that 35 people were on board an Iranian ship that sank 40 nautical miles (about 74 kilometers) south of the island.
Sri Lanka Navy spokesperson Commander Buddhika Sampath said bodies were recovered from the sea in the area of the incident. Thirty-two people were rescued by the Sri Lanka Navy and were receiving medical care at the hospital in the southern port city of Galle.
The navy received a distress call from an Iranian ship and informed the Sri Lankan air force and the two launched a search and rescue operation, he said. Rescue ships that arrived at the scene did not see the ship and only observed an oil slick, Sampath said, adding that the incident took place outside Sri Lankan waters, but Colombo was still committed to providing support.
Sri Lankan forces were focused on saving lives on the Iranian ship and will investigate the cause of the incident later, he said. They also did not observe any other ships or aircraft in the area of the incident, he added. “We are hopeful that we can rescue more people and we will continue [las operaciones] until we are sure,” Sampath said.
