'US will regret precedent it has set': Iranian FM warns after US submarine sinks warship IRIS Dena

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi warned on Thursday that the United States would face consequences after a U.S. submarine sank an Iranian warship in the Indian Ocean, an attack that has widened the confrontation between Washington and Tehran beyond the Persian Gulf.

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"The U.S. 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. Mark my words: The U.S. will come to bitterly regret precedent it has set," Araghchi said.

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The strike targeted the Iranian frigate IRIS Dena off the southern coast of Sri Lanka. The vessel had been returning to Iran from an eastern Indian port after taking part in a naval exercise organised by India.

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth confirmed the attack, saying the vessel was destroyed by a torpedo launched from a U.S. submarine.

"An American submarine sank an Iranian warship that thought it was safe in international waters," Hegseth said at the Pentagon. "Instead, it was sunk by a torpedo. Quiet death."

Hospital authorities in the Sri Lankan port city of Galle said 87 bodies had been brought ashore by military rescuers responding to an early-morning distress call. Another 32 sailors were rescued and were being treated in hospital, while roughly 60 people were unaccounted for from an estimated 180 crew members on board, Reuters reported, citing Sri Lankan authorities.

The attack occurred hundreds of miles from the Gulf, where U.S. and Israeli forces are already striking Iranian targets while Tehran has responded with missile and drone attacks.

A Pentagon video said to show the strike depicted the vessel being hit by a large explosion that tore apart the rear of the ship, lifting it out of the water before it began sinking from the stern. The timing of the footage could not be independently verified, although the deck structure and mast resembled known imagery of the IRIS Dena.

The Iranian frigate had recently participated in the Milan multilateral naval exercise organised by India in the Bay of Bengal from February 18 to 25, according to the exercise's official website.

The site listed IRINS Dena among the participating vessels. Iranian naval ships often use the prefixes IRIS (Islamic Republic of Iran Ship) or IRINS (Islamic Republic of Iran Naval Ship).