Iran’s Army says 104 killed, 32 injured in US strike on Frigate Dena

Iran’s Army says 104 personnel on board the Frigate Dena have lost their lives during a “savage” attack by the United States in international waters.

The attack happened hundreds of miles away from the war zone in the Persian Gulf - off the southern coast of Sri Lanka—on Wednesday, the Army said in a statement on Sunday.

Frigate IRIS Dena was torpedoed and sunk by a US submarine. According to Sri Lanka's deputy foreign minister, it was heading back to Iran from an eastern Indian port.

The Army said the ship was returning home after participating in the “Milan 2026” naval exercise, a multinational maritime drill in India, when the US Navy carried out the attack without any advanced warning and in violation of all humanitarian laws and international maritime regulations.

A total of 136 personnel were on board the frigate, 104 of whom were martyred and 20 others went missing, according to the statement.

Thirty-two sailors were wounded in the attack and were transferred to a hospital in Sri Lanka.

It emphasized that the terrorist US Navy’s inhuman attack, which occurred miles away from the war zone, violated humanitarian rules and international maritime regulations.

Frigate IRIS Dena had taken part in a naval exercise organized by India in the Bay of Bengal from February 18 to 25.

In a post on X on Thursday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi vowed that the United States will “bitterly regret” sinking Iran’s Frigate Dena.

“The US 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 US will come to bitterly regret the precedent it has set,” Araghchi wrote.

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