Washington, March 4 (.) A United States submarine has sunk an Iranian naval warship with a torpedo strike, marking the first time since World War II that an enemy vessel has been destroyed in this manner, Pete Hegseth said on Wednesday.
Speaking at the Pentagon during a briefing on “Operation Epic Fury,” US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said the strike was carried out in international waters by an American submarine.
“An American submarine sunk an Iranian warship that thought it was safe in international waters,” Hegseth said. “Instead, it was sunk by a torpedo. Quiet death. The first sinking of an enemy ship by a torpedo since World War Two. We are fighting to win.”
However, during the Falklands War in 1982, a British nuclear submarine sank Argentina’s cruiser ARA General Belgrano.
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine said the Iranian vessel was “effectively neutralized” in a Navy fast attack using a single Mark 48 torpedo. He said the US Navy achieved “immediate effect,” sending the warship “to the bottom of the sea.”
Hegseth identified the vessel in the briefing as the Soleimani, the flagship of the Iranian Navy, named after Qasem Soleimani, the former commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Quds Force who was killed in a US drone strike in January 2020.
However, there are conflicting reports about the identity of the warship. Some media outlets have reported that the vessel sunk was IRIS Dena, which had participated in a naval exercise in the Bay of Bengal from February 18 to 25 and was returning to Iran from an eastern Indian port when it came under attack, according to Sri Lankan media. India’s ‘Milan’ naval exercise website lists an Iranian vessel named Irins Dena among the participants in the multilateral drill.
“The Iranian Navy rests at the bottom of the Persian Gulf. Combat ineffective, decimated, destroyed, defeated,” Hegseth said. “Last night we sunk their prize ship, the Soleimani. Their navy is no more.”
In a separate statement posted on X, Adm. Brad Cooper, commander of United States Central Command (CENTCOM), said US forces have destroyed 17 Iranian warships so far, including a submarine, as part of ongoing operations.
“In simple terms, we’re focused on shooting all the things that can shoot at us,” Cooper said, describing what he called “uncontested surgical strikes” carried out by B-2 and B-1 bombers. “We are also sinking the Iranian navy — the entire navy. Thus far, we’ve destroyed 17 Iranian ships, including the most operational Iranian submarine that now has a hole in its side.”
Tehran has not confirmed the reported losses. If confirmed, the destruction would represent a significant blow to Iran’s naval capabilities.
Iran’s submarine fleet has been a central component of its asymmetric maritime strategy. The country operates a small number of larger diesel-electric submarines, including three Russian-built Kilo-class attack submarines, along with domestically produced vessels designed for operations in the Persian Gulf and surrounding waters.
Sri Lanka’s Deputy Foreign Minister Arun Hemachandra said at least 80 people were killed after a US submarine struck the Iranian warship off the country’s southern coast.
Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath said 180 personnel were on board the IRIS Dena, one of Iran’s newest warships, when it sent out a distress call at dawn, approximately 25 miles south of the southern port city of Galle.
Sri Lankan authorities have launched a search-and-rescue operation to locate additional survivors, as conflicting reports continue to emerge over casualties and the number of missing crew members.
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