Iranian warship attacked by US was invited by Sri Lanka: Envoy

- US submarine attacked Iranian warship IRIS Dena on March 4 in waters off India, killing 104 sailors and wounding 32 others, who were rescued by joint forces of Sri Lanka

ISTANBUL

The Iranian warship attacked by the US earlier this month was sailing at the invitation of Sri Lanka, said Alireza Delkhosh, Iranian ambassador to the Sri Lankan capital of Colombo, on Monday.

The IRS Dena was “not ready for war and it was not here for war. It was not here for conflict,” Delkhosh said, according to a video record of his news conference held in Colombo.

It was participating in a peaceful exercise in India and during its presence there, “this vessel, and two other vessels were invited, I repeat it, invited by the Sri Lankan side to come here,” he said.

“And when they were here, they didn't receive any alert in advance from the United States. They attacked... without any alert,” he added.

A US submarine attacked the Iranian warship IRIS Dena on March 4 in waters off India, killing 104 sailors and wounding 32 others, who were rescued by the joint forces of Sri Lanka.

Days later, Sri Lanka evacuated 208 crew members from a second Iranian vessel, IRIS Bushehr, after the ship requested assistance from Colombo.

Both Iranian vessels were returning from the Milan Peace 2026 naval drills in India.

According to the Iranian ambassador, several other people on board were not from the army. “They were... (a) music band,” he said.

Delkhosh said that during the exercise in India, the Sri Lankan navy commander “invited” the Iranian navy vessels for a friendly visit.

All “three of them,” he said.

“One went to the Indian coast, and two of them came here. Dena was attacked, and Bushehr is here,” he said.

He said that Tehran is working on taking the remaining personnel in Sri Lanka "to their country and their family as soon as possible.”

Earlier this month, Indian Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar said Tehran had requested on Feb. 28 that three Iranian ships in the region dock at Indian ports.

New Delhi granted permission, and the crew of the final one, IRIS Lavan, docked in the southern Kochi port.

Regional escalation has continued to flare since the US and Israel launched a joint offensive on Iran on Feb. 28, killing over 1,300 people, including then-Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

Iran has retaliated with drone and missile strikes targeting Israel as well as locations in Jordan, Iraq, and Gulf countries hosting US military assets, causing casualties and infrastructure damage and disrupting aviation and global markets.

The Iranian ambassador Delkhosh also said that Tehran will provide oil supplies to Colombo if demanded.

"Sri Lanka is our friend country," Delkhosh told reporters, adding that the Strait of Hormuz "is not closed to our friend(ly) countries' vessels."

Tehran is currently controlling the critical waterway through which most of the energy supplies from the Middle East go to Asian nations.