A US submarine torpedoed an Iranian warship in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Sri Lanka, US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Wednesday.

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“Yesterday, in the Indian Ocean…an American submarine sunk an Iranian warship that thought it was safe in international waters. Instead, it was sunk by a torpedo,” Hegseth said at a Pentagon briefing.

It is “the first sinking of an enemy ship by a torpedo since World War II,” he added.

“Like in that war, back when we were still the War Department, we are fighting to win.”

Sri Lanka’s navy was informed that the Iranian warship IRIS Dena, with 180 people on board, was in distress and sinking, Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath told lawmakers. A rescue mission was launched, mobilising ships and planes.

Sri Lanka’s navy said it recovered 87 bodies and rescued 32 people, who were admitted to a hospital in Galle, on the south of the island.

“While we were (doing) search operations, we found people floating in the water and rescued them and later on, subsequently, when we inquired them, we found that those people are belonging to the Iranian ship,” Buddhika Sampath, Sri Lankan Navy Media Spokesperson, said.

The Iranian naval ship sank outside Sri Lanka’s territorial waters, officials said.

The search and rescue operation is ongoing.

The IRIS Dena is one of Iran’s newest warships. It was patrolling in deep water and was armed with guns, missiles, and torpedoes. It also carried one helicopter.

The United States sanctioned the IRIS Dena in 2023, along with eight executives of an Iranian drone manufacturer that supplied weapons to Russia for use against Ukrainian civilians.

At least 17 Iranian ships have been sunk during the ongoing war, according to the United States.