TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth confirmed the US military sank an Iranian frigate off the coast of Sri Lanka in international waters on Wednesday morning, emphasizing the reach of the US military as Washington continues to expand its war on Iran.
"An American submarine sunk an Iranian warship that thought it was safe in international waters. Instead, it was sunk by a torpedo," Hegseth told reporters.
Sri Lanka carries out rescue operation
Sri Lanka's military had earlier reported its navy was carrying out a rescue operation after the Iranian frigate IRIS Dena issued a distress call from a location just 40 kilometers (25 miles) south of Sri Lanka, just outside the island's territorial waters in the Indian Ocean.
Sri Lankan Navy spokesman Buddhika Sampath said that Sri Lanka "responded to the distress call under our international obligations, as this is within our search and rescue area."
Sampath added that by the time Sri Lankan ships arrived at the location, the ship had sunk and "there were only some oil patches and life rafts. We found people floating on the water."
The frigate was carrying a crew of 180 sailors, of which 32 were rescued from the sea and are being treated in a Sri Lankan hospital in the town of Galle south of Colombo.
"We are keeping up a search, but we don't know yet what happened to the rest of the crew," a Sri Lankan defense official told AFP earlier Wednesday. It was initially unclear how long the rescue operation would last. Sri Lankan police later said 87 bodies of Iranian sailors had been recovered.
First US sinking by torpedo since World War II
Sri Lankan authorities were reluctant to share any details of how the frigate sank, and denied initial reports from unnamed defense ministry sources that a submarine was involved.
Hegseth called the US submarine attack in international water a "quiet death" and added it was the first US sinking of an enemy ship by torpedo since World War II.
"Like in that war," he said, "we are fighting to win."
The IRIS Dena is a domestically produced light frigate that patrols in deep water for the Iranian navy. It is armed with surface-to-air missiles, anti-ship missiles and torpedoes, and can carry one helicopter.
Read: Did the US-Israel Strikes on Iran Break International Law?
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