The US have claimed at least 80 people have been killed(Image: AFP via Getty Images)

'At least 80 dead' after US submarine hits Iranian warship in Sri Lanka

The Iranian vessel was heading back to Iran from a port in eastern India when it was struck

by · The Mirror

The US have claimed at least 80 people have died after their submarine sank an Iranian warship in Sri Lanka.

The vessel was heading back to Iran from a port in eastern India when it was struck. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said the US military had sunk "an Iranian warship" in the Indian Ocean, with a torpedo during a Pentagon media briefing.

He didn't name the ship, but it follows earlier confirmation from the Sri Lankan navy that it rescued 32 people after a distress call from the Iranian IRIS Dena, with around 140 people on board currently missing.

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Security personnel stand guard in front of the National Hospital Galle( Image: AFP via Getty Images)

Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath told Parliament that Sri Lanka's navy received information that the ship IRIS Dena, with 180 people on board, was in distress and sinking. The island nation deployed ships and air force planes to carry out the rescue mission, he said.

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