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US2 min(s) read
Footage of the moment a U.S. submarine torpedoed and sank an Iranian warship has been released by the U.S. Department of War. In the video, large flames can be seen coming from the warship.
Then all of a sudden, a giant explosion erupts, throwing the back of the ship clear out of the water.
Per NBC News, more than 80 Iranian sailors lost their lives in the attack, around 25 miles south of Sri Lanka.
Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said the Iranian warship “thought it was safe in international waters” before it was destroyed by a torpedo fired from a US sub, BBC News reports.
He told a briefing that the strike marked “the first sinking of an enemy ship by a torpedo since World War Two.”
“Like in that war… we are fighting to win,” Hegseth said.
The vessel was on its way back to Iran from a port in eastern India when it was struck in the Indian Ocean, officials have confirmed.
According to early reports, about 140 crew members were missing after the warship got caught up in the explosion, leading to an urgent rescue operation at sea.
As of yet, Sri Lanka’s navy has recovered 87 bodies after the blast, according to police and defence officials.
“We have collected 87 bodies, and a search is still on for the others who are still missing,” a navy official told AFP.
According to authorities, 61 sailors remain unaccounted for, with 32 people having been rescued and treated at a hospital in the city of Galle.
Sri Lanka’s defence ministry continues to look for other unaccounted crew.
“We are keeping up a search, but we don’t know yet what happened to the rest of the crew,” an official said, per The Sun.
On Wednesday morning, the 180-crew frigate, serving in the Southern Fleet of the Iranian Navy, issued a distress call.
Two Sri Lankan navy vessels and an aircraft were deployed for the rescue operation.
According to Navy spokesman Buddhika Sampath, their operation was in line with Sri Lanka’s maritime obligations.
“We responded to the distress call under our international obligations, as this is within our search and rescue area in the Indian Ocean,” Sampath told AFP.
Local police have increased security outside the Galle hospital as the local navy brought in injured Iranians.
Hegseth believes the attack is only the beginning for Iran. He said the US was striking Iran “while they’re down”, warning: “More and larger waves are coming, we are just getting started.”
