Iran warship sent distress signal

New Delhi: The Indian Navy on Thursday confirmed that the Iranian frigate IRIS Dena sent out a distress signal during the early hours of March 4 after it was hit by a torpedo attack by a submarine of the US Navy off the southern coast of Sri Lanka, prompting an international search and rescue effort in the region.

It added that the IRIS Dena, a frigate-class vessel, was on a mission 20 nautical miles off Galle on the southern coast of Sri Lanka when it sent out a distress signal to the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre in Colombo. This signal was then relayed to regional maritime agencies, including the Indian Navy.

IRIS Dena took part in the Milan International Fleet Review held off the coast of the Bay of Bengal between February 18 and 25. The vessel was given a warm welcome by the Indian Navy. The vessel was on its return journey from Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh.

“… Indian Navy has reacted quickly to the situation and launched a search and rescue effort to aid the Sri Lankan Navy, which is already on a search and rescue mission in the region,” said an official adding, “A long-range maritime patrol aircraft was sent out at around 10 am on March 4 to aid the ongoing search and rescue effort for survivors on board the damaged vessel.”

Another aircraft equipped to drop life rafts into the water was also on stand-by in case of a prompt response to locate anybody in the water. Nearby, the Indian naval training vessel INS Tarangini was dispatched to the location, arriving at the scene around 4 pm that day after being diverted from other duties in the vicinity.

The Sri Lanka Navy, along with other maritime agencies, kicked off the searches in the location where the Iranian vessel was believed to have sunk after the reported torpedo attack on the vessel.

To strengthen the search operation, the survey vessel INS Ikshak set off from Kochi to join the mission to locate the missing crew of the wrecked Iranian vessel in the region. The vessel remains in the region as part of the humanitarian search operation to locate the missing crew of the wrecked Iranian vessel in the region.

The search operation in the region has been described as a humanitarian operation to locate the shipwrecked crew in the region as tensions in the region intensify in the West Asian waters.

Meanwhile, Sri Lanka on Thursday said it is deliberating appropriate action after a second Iranian ship has sought entry to its territorial waters, a day after a frigate belonging to the Islamic country was attacked near the island nation. However, no decision was announced by 6 pm.

Sri Lanka on Wednesday said it had recovered 84 bodies of Iranian sailors killed after a US submarine attack sank the Iranian frigate IRIS Dena off Galle, the island’s southern coastal town.

Government spokesman and minister Nalinda Jayathissa was on Thursday responding to a query by the main opposition leader Sajith Premadasa in Parliament about the second Iranian ship, located off Panadura, outside Colombo.

“We are aware of it and are contemplating action to safeguard all lives on board,” Jayathissa said. “We are intervening to resolve this issue to safeguard regional peace.”

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, who is also the Minister of Defence, along with the Security Council and the government are making the necessary interventions to resolve the issue, minimise the loss of life, and protect regional peace, he said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday spoke to French President Emmanuel Macron and discussed shared concerns over the evolving situation in West Asia, and the need for a return to dialogue and diplomacy.

After his telephonic conversation with Macron, Modi said they will continue to engage closely and coordinate efforts towards the early restoration of peace and stability in the region.

“Spoke with my friend President Emmanuel Macron today. We discussed our shared concerns over the evolving situation in West Asia and the need for a return to dialogue and diplomacy.

“We will continue to engage closely and coordinate efforts towards the early restoration of peace and stability in the region,” Modi said in a post on X.