New Delhi : Hours after an Iranian warship was attacked in the Indian Ocean, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on Thursday claimed it struck an American tanker in the northern Persian Gulf, Reuters reported. The attack came soon after the powerful IRGC said in a statement that the passage of ships through the Strait of Hormuz would be under its control. Thursday’s claim by Iran of having struck the oil tanker comes less than 24 hours after a US submarine sank an Iranian warship off the southern coast of Sri Lanka, expanding the war zone to the Indian Ocean and bringing it to India’s backyard.
The frigate, IRIS Dena, was heading back to Iran from India’s Visakhapatnam after participating in two naval exercises last month when it was hit by a US torpedo. The surprise attack in international waters left 87 Iranian sailors dead. The commander of IRIS Dena and some senior officers were among the 32 rescued. Over 60 are still missing. A video released by the US Pentagon showed a massive explosion after the warship was hit by a torpedo, which blew apart the rear of the vessel. It sank soon after.
US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, addressing reporters, said the Iranian warship died a “quiet death”. “An American submarine sank an Iranian warship that thought it was safe in international waters,” Hegseth said. On Thursday, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi vowed to avenge what he called a US “atrocity” at sea 2,000 miles away from Iran’s shores. “Frigate Dena, a guest of India’s Navy, was struck in international waters without warning. Mark my words: The US will come to bitterly regret the precedent it has set,” Araghchi tweeted.
Over the past couple of days, the US has ramped up strikes on Iranian naval forces, including attacks on a container ship converted into an aircraft carrier for drones and on naval bases along the edge of the Persian Gulf. The tit-for-tat sinking of each other’s ships comes as the US and Israel ramped up air strikes on Iran for the sixth day after the killing of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and over 1,000 others, including scores of schoolgirls in Minab.
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