Sri Lanka said on Thursday it was trying to “safeguard lives” on a second Iranian vessel near its waters, a day after a US submarine strike sank an Iranian warship off the island’s southern coast, killing 87 people.
Government spokesman Nalinda Jayatissa told parliament that authorities were aware of another Iranian ship within Sri Lanka’s exclusive economic zone and were monitoring the situation. He did not confirm whether the vessel was a military ship but said officials were “doing our utmost to safeguard lives.”
The Iranian warship IRIS Dena was struck about 19 nautical miles off the southern port city of Galle. Sri Lankan rescue teams recovered 32 survivors after responding to an early-morning distress call on Wednesday. Search operations continued Thursday for about 10 sailors still missing. Authorities said the rescued sailors suffered minor injuries and could soon be released from hospital.
Sri Lankan officials also said two refrigerated units were sent from Colombo to store the bodies recovered from the sea.
Iran strongly condemned the attack. Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said the ship was hit without warning in international waters thousands of miles from the Gulf conflict zone, where the United States and Israel are conducting strikes against Iran.
“The U.S. will bitterly regret the precedent it has set,” Araqchi wrote on X.
U.S. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth confirmed the strike, saying an American submarine fired a torpedo that sank the vessel.
The IRIS Dena had recently participated in a naval exercise hosted by India in the Bay of Bengal and was returning home when it was attacked.
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