Iran condemns US for sinking warship ‘IRIS Dena’, warns Washington will ‘bitterly regret’ move

Iran on Wednesday criticised the United States for sinking its warship IRIS Dena in the Indian Ocean, with Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi alleging the vessel — which he described as “a guest of the Indian Navy” — was attacked without warning.

Araqchi also issued a warning to Washington, saying it would “bitterly regret” the strike on the Iranian frigate.

“Frigate Dena, a guest of India’s Navy carrying almost 130 sailors, was struck in international waters without warning… Mark my words: The US will come to bitterly regret the precedent it has set,” Araqchi wrote on X, in Tehran’s first official reaction to the sinking of the ship.

The destruction of IRIS Dena has further escalated the ongoing tensions between Iran and the United States, which have already triggered instability across several parts of the Middle East. According to US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, the attack is believed to be the first time since World War II that the United States has sunk a ship with a torpedo in the Indian Ocean.

Warship had recently visited India

At least 87 people were killed after a US submarine torpedoed the Iranian vessel, which had recently participated in the International Fleet Review in Visakhapatnam and the multinational naval exercise Milan 2026 hosted by India. However, people familiar with the matter said the ship was struck outside India’s territorial waters after completing its participation in the exercise.

India has not yet issued an official response to the sinking. Hours after the incident, however, the country rejected a viral claim that US naval forces were using Indian ports to target Iran. In a post on X, the fact-check unit of the Ministry of External Affairs dismissed the claim as “fake and false”.

The clarification came after retired US Army colonel Douglas Macgregor claimed in a television interview that Washington was “falling back on Indian ports” after its bases in the Middle East were allegedly damaged in Iranian strikes.