India has confirmed that the Iranian warship IRIS Dena had been granted permission to dock at its ports just three days before the vessel was sunk by a United States submarine, an incident that has significantly broadened the scope of the ongoing conflict involving Iran.
According to India’s foreign minister, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, Iran requested docking clearance for three naval ships on 28 February—the same day the United States and Israel launched military operations against Iran. India approved the request on 1 March. However, the exact movements of the ships between 1 and 4 March remain unclear, and it is still unknown why only one of the vessels ultimately reached an Indian port.
The sinking of the IRIS Dena on 4 March occurred in international waters off the southern coast of Sri Lanka, marking the first military strike outside the Middle East since the war began. The ship carried about 130 sailors, and at least 87 crew members were reported killed after a torpedo launched from a US submarine struck the vessel. The incident represents a dramatic escalation of the conflict and has raised questions about regional security and India’s influence in waters close to its territory.
US President Donald Trump has previously stated that one of Washington’s objectives in the campaign against Iran is to destroy the country’s naval capabilities.
The IRIS Dena, along with two other Iranian ships—IRIS Bushehr and IRIS Lavan—had earlier taken part in a multinational naval exercise hosted by India between 15 and 25 February in the coastal city of Visakhapatnam. After the drills concluded, the vessels departed Indian waters on 25 February and were believed to be sailing in international waters by 28 February, when the war between the US–Israel alliance and Iran began.
Addressing parliament on Monday, Jaishankar explained that Iran had asked India to allow the three ships to dock while they were in the region. India granted the request on 1 March, and one of the ships—IRIS Lavan—successfully reached India. It docked on 4 March in the southern port city of Kochi, where its crew is currently being hosted at Indian naval facilities.
“We believe allowing the vessel to dock and supporting the crew was the right decision,” Jaishankar told lawmakers.
On the same day that IRIS Lavan arrived in Kochi, the IRIS Dena was struck by a torpedo. The Indian Navy said the vessel was sailing roughly 20 nautical miles west of the coastal city of Galle when it was attacked. The area lies within Sri Lanka’s designated search-and-rescue zone, although the strike itself took place in international waters.
The United States maintains extensive surveillance of maritime activity worldwide, and analysts estimate that roughly a quarter of the US Navy’s submarine fleet—around 65 to 70 vessels in total—is deployed at sea at any given time.
Iran strongly condemned the attack. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi described the incident as “an atrocity at sea,” stating that the ship had been attacked about 2,000 miles from Iran’s coastline and without warning while operating in international waters.
Meanwhile, Sri Lanka later confirmed that the third Iranian ship, IRIS Bushehr, sought emergency docking on 5 March after reporting engine problems. The vessel was granted sanctuary at a Sri Lankan port one day after the IRIS Dena was sunk.
Indian authorities have said they are still seeking clarity on the movements of the three vessels after docking permission was granted. Media organisations have also requested further details from both the Iranian embassy in India and India’s Ministry of External Affairs.
The US has defended the operation. US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth described the destruction of the IRIS Dena as a demonstration of American naval power, calling it the first instance since World War II in which a US submarine had sunk an enemy ship using a torpedo.
While it marks the first such action by an American submarine since 1945, other countries have used torpedoes to sink vessels in later conflicts. Both United Kingdom and Pakistan have carried out similar attacks in the decades following World War II.
The IRIS Dena is among roughly 20 Iranian naval vessels that have reportedly been destroyed since the United States and Israel launched coordinated strikes against Iran, highlighting the growing intensity of the war and its expanding geographic reach.
