1 of 2 | A screenshot from footage shot from a U.S. Navy Submarine shows the moment of impact as a torpedo strikes the the IRIS Dena, a Moudge Class Frigate of the Iranian Navy, on Wednesday. Photo via U.S. Department of Defense/UPI | License Photo
Iran on Thursday vowed to exact revenge for the sinking of an Iranian Navy frigate by a U.S. submarine off Sri Lanka with the loss of scores of sailors.
In a post on X, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the attack was “an atrocity” that set a precedent of widening the boundaries of the conflict beyond the region that the United States would come to regret.
“The U.S. has perpetrated an atrocity at sea, 2,000 miles away from Iran’s shores. Frigate Dena, a guest of India’s Navy carrying almost 130 sailors, was struck in international waters without warning. Mark my words: The U.S. will come to bitterly regret the precedent it has set,” he wrote.
Sri Lankan authorities said at least 87 people were killed when the IRIS Dena was struck by a torpedo on Wednesday, with 32 pulled from the water in a search and rescue operation mounted by the Sri Lankan Navy.
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chair Gen. Dan Caine confirmed the sinking, the first by a U.S. Navy submarine in more than 80 years, at a news briefing at the Pentagon in Washington.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said in a post on X early Thursday that the attack “crossed a red line,” warning that “further aggression will be met with decisive, overwhelming, and strategically precise retaliation.”
Shortly after, it claimed its forces had struck an American oil tanker in the northern Persian Gulf, setting it ablaze, and reiterated its threat to attack any military and commercial shipping of the United States, Israel and European nations, or their supporters, that attempted to transit the Strait of Hormuz.
The British Royal Navy’s Maritime Trade Operations center said it had received a report from the master of a tanker anchored 30 nautical miles southeast of the Kuwaiti city of Mubarak Al Kabeer, saying his vessel had been attacked.
There were no injuries and the crew is safe, but the master of the ship, which was not identified, reported seeing and hearing a large explosion on the port side and then witnessing a small craft speed away from the scene.
Oil was spilling into the sea from the vessel’s tanks and it was taking on water, but was not on fire, according to the UKMTO incident report.
The conflict continued to spread outwards from Iran and the Gulf with Azerbaijan threatening retaliation against Iran on Thursday after drone strikes on the international airport and other civilian infrastructure in its Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, near to the country’s border with Iran.
“The Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Azerbaijan strongly condemns the attacks carried out by the armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran against civilian infrastructure on the territory of Azerbaijan in the absence of any military necessity. These acts of aggression will not remain unanswered,” the Defense Ministry said in a statement.
The Telegraph said it had verified footage circulating online showing a blast at an airport in the exclave, which is separated from the rest of Azerbaijan by Armenia. A second drone fell near a school.
Azerbaijan is a close ally of Israel and the two countries have military links.
Meanwhile, in her first briefing since the United States and Israel launched their military offensive, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the operation was on track, taking the United States in a new direction that would “better ensure” its security and that of the American people.
“Make no mistake, killing these brutal terrorists is good for America, and makes the world a much safer place,” she said.
Leavitt said U.S. President Donald Trump would always opt for peace and diplomacy but said Iran “chose this path of violence and destruction and they are reaping the consequences.”
On U.S. efforts to evacuate U.S. citizens living in or visiting the region, Leavitt said more than 17,500 Americans were safely back on American soil and urged anybody who wanted assistance to return to the United States to register with the U.S. State Department.
U.K. operations to evacuate its citizens got off to a shaky start, with the first Foreign Office-chartered flight, due to depart from Muscat in Oman on Wednesday night, delayed until later on Thursday due to a technical issue.
A British Airways flight, for existing BA customers only, departed Muscat for London at 2.30 a.m. Thursday. The airline said in a social media post that seats on additional flights on Friday and Saturday, one on each day, were no longer available as the flights were fully booked.
Muscat is a 285-mile drive across the desert from Dubai, on the Arabian Sea-side of the region and away from the conflict zone.
This week in Washington
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz is sworn-in during a House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform hearing on Minnesota’s welfare fraud scandal at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday. The hearing marks Walz first official appear in the federal probe examining the alleged misuse of federal funds intended for Minnesota social services and Medicaid programs. Photo by Annabelle Gordon/UPI | License Photo
