US, Iran spar over status of Iranian warship sunk by submarine

NEW DELHI — The United States and Iran have offered sharply different accounts of the sinking of an Iranian warship in the Indian Ocean last week, with Washington rejecting Tehran’s claim the vessel was unarmed and Iranian officials insisting it was operating in a noncombat role.

The United States Indo-Pacific Command on Sunday rejected Iran’s claim that the warship IRIS Dena was unarmed when it was sunk in a submarine attack in international waters off Sri Lanka on March 4. In a statement on X, INDOPACOM called Iran’s assertion that the vessel was unarmed “false.”

The response followed strong objections from Tehran, which has repeatedly characterized the warship as defenseless, saying it was returning home after taking part in a naval exercise.

An Indian navy official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief the media, said the Iranian vessel was not “entirely unarmed” and had taken part in drills alongside other countries’ warships.

Some experts have, however, suggested that visiting ships at such events typically do not carry a full combat load of live munitions unless scheduled for live-fire drills. They say even during the sea phase of exercises, ships generally carry only tightly-controlled ammunition limited to specific drills.

Rahul Bedi, an independent defense analyst based in India, said the vessel may have used some limited non-offensive ammunition during the naval exercises, but protocol requires “the participating platforms to be unarmed.”

“The precondition of participating in such a parade, or such a ceremony, is that it (the vessel) comes unarmed. That is the precondition of the Indian Navy and it’s a precondition of most navies when they hold such similar sort of fleet reviews,” Bedi said.

Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Saeed Khatibzadeh said Friday that the warship, sunk by a U.S. torpedo, had not been carrying weapons and accused Washington of targeting a ceremonial vessel.

“That vessel was by invitation of our Indian friends, attending an international exercise. It was ceremonial. It was unloaded. It was unarmed,” he told reporters in New Delhi.

The IRIS Dena was sunk on March 4 in the Indian Ocean near Sri Lanka after being struck by a torpedo fired from a U.S. submarine, according to American and Iranian officials. The Sri Lankan navy rescued 32 sailors and recovered 87 bodies.

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth described the IRIS Dena as a “prize ship” and said it “died a quiet death.” Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi described the attack as “an atrocity at sea” and stressed that it had been “a guest of India’s Navy.”

Disputes over whether the vessel was armed have intensified tensions over the incident, which occurred as it was returning from multinational naval exercises in India, and raised questions about whether it was operating in a noncombat role when it was attacked.

India’s defense ministry said in a statement after the exercises that “live firings as part of surface gun shoots, as well as anti-air firings, were also undertaken” by participating vessels.

The warship’s sinking highlighted how the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran is spreading beyond the Middle East.

Two other Iranian vessels — the IRIS Bushehr and IRIS Lavan — are docked in Sri Lanka and India after seeking assistance from the two countries.

Associated Press writer Aijaz Hussain in Srinagar, India, contributed to this report.

新德里——美国和伊朗对上周伊朗军舰在印度洋沉没事件给出了截然不同的说法。华盛顿方面驳斥了德黑兰关于该舰未携带武器的说法，而伊朗官员则坚称该舰当时执行的是非战斗任务。

美国印太司令部周日驳斥了伊朗的说法，即伊朗军舰“IRIS Dena”号在3月4日于斯里兰卡附近国际水域遭潜艇袭击沉没时并未携带武器。印太司令部在一份声明中称伊朗关于该舰未携带武器的说法是“错误的”。

此前德黑兰方面强烈反对，并多次将这艘军舰描述为毫无防御能力的军舰，称其在参加完海军演习后正在返回母港。

一位不愿透露姓名的印度海军官员表示，这艘伊朗舰艇并非“完全没有武装”，并且曾与其他国家的军舰一起参加过演习。该官员表示，他没有被授权向媒体通报情况。

然而，一些专家指出，除非安排进行实弹演习，否则参加此类活动的舰艇通常不会携带全部作战弹药。他们表示，即使在演习的海上阶段，舰艇通常也只携带严格控制的、仅限于特定演习的弹药。

印度独立国防分析师拉胡尔·贝迪表示，该舰艇可能在海军演习期间使用了一些有限的非进攻性弹药，但协议要求“参与的平台不得携带武器”。

贝迪说：“参加此类阅兵或仪式的先决条件是舰艇不得携带武器。这是印度海军的先决条件，也是大多数海军举行类似舰队检阅时的先决条件。”

伊朗副外长赛义德·哈提卜扎德周五表示，被美国鱼雷击沉的军舰当时并未载有武器，并指责华盛顿以一艘礼仪船为目标。

“那艘船是应我们印度朋友的邀请，参加国际演习的。它是礼仪性的。船上没有货物。船上没有武器，”他在新德里告诉记者。

据美国和伊朗官员称，3月4日，伊朗海军“伊里斯·德纳”号军舰在斯里兰卡附近的印度洋海域被美国潜艇发射的鱼雷击沉。斯里兰卡海军救起32名船员，并打捞出87具遗体。

美国国防部长皮特·赫格塞斯将“IRIS Dena”号描述为一艘“战利品船”，并称其“悄无声息地沉没了”。伊朗外交部长阿巴斯·阿拉格奇将此次袭击描述为“海上暴行”，并强调该船是“印度海军的客人”。

关于该舰是否携带武器的争议加剧了此次事件的紧张局势。该舰当时正从印度的多国海军演习返回途中，此次事件引发了人们对该舰在遭到袭击时是否处于非战斗状态的质疑。

印度国防部在演习结束后发表声明称，参演舰艇“还进行了实弹射击，包括水面炮射击和防空射击”。

这艘军舰的沉没凸显了美以对伊战争正在向中东以外地区蔓延。

另两艘伊朗船只——IRIS Bushehr 号和 IRIS Lavan 号——在向斯里兰卡和印度寻求援助后，分别停靠在这两个国家。

美联社驻印度斯利那加记者艾贾兹·侯赛因对本报道亦有贡献。