A United States submarine has sunk an Iranian warship in the Indian Ocean, resulting in at least 87 recovered bodies. The vessel, identified by Sri Lanka’s foreign minister as IRIS Dena, had recently participated in a joint naval exercise hosted by India and was returning home from an eastern Indian port when it was destroyed. The attack occurred thousands of kilometers from the Gulf, marking the first time since 1945 that a US attack submarine used torpedoes to sink a warship.

Yale University lecturer Sushant Singh said the incident has created uncomfortable questions for New Delhi, a key US partner, as the strike took place shortly after India had hosted the Iranian crew. He described the sinking of IRIS Dena just hours after leaving Indian waters as a major blow to India’s regional credibility. The ship was reportedly traveling through an area under Indian naval observation but outside any active conflict zone.

Analysts noted that India faces the challenge of protecting trade and energy routes, avoiding US-Iran tensions, and preventing normalization of third-party military actions near its maritime sphere. India has not publicly commented on the incident.