US submarine sinks Iranian warship in Indian Ocean

A US submarine has sunk an Iranian warship in the Indian Ocean, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Wednesday.

“An Iranian warship that thought it was safe in international waters… Instead, it was sunk by a torpedo,” he said. Hegseth did not name the Iranian ship that was attacked.

But earlier the Sri Lankan navy reported the IRIS Dena went down in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Galle, with around 180 people on board.

“We received the distress signal and our navy vessels went to the scene of the incident, we only saw a few lifeboats... there was no Iranian ship in sight. It had sunk,” the Sri Lankan navy said.

The strike killed 80 people, while 32 were rescued by the Sri Lankan navy. The rest of the crew are unaccounted for.

During a press briefing at the Pentagon, Hegseth said “America is winning, decisively, devastatingly and without mercy”.

“We are only four days in,” he said, adding that “Trump has said” the US “will take all the time we need” to make sure the operation is a success.

He said the US was “just getting started” and promised that “more waves” were coming.

The defence secretary praised Israel’s “skill”, adding that fighting alongside such a capable ally was a “breath of fresh air”.

Hegseth said the bombing of an Iranian girl’s school in Minab said to have killed some 150 people, is being investigated. “We of course never target civilian targets but we’re taking a look and investigating that,” he said.