Sri Lanka Interns Iranian Naval Vessel Following Sub Attack, European States Increase Middle East Naval and Air Deployments

Sri Lanka has interned one of Tehran’s few remaining naval vessels and its crew on humanitarian grounds following a U.S. submarine attack against an Iranian frigate near its territorial waters, according to the country’s president. Alongside the now stricken 1,500-ton Moudge-class frigate IRIS Dena (75), the auxiliary vessel IRIS Bushehr (422) was sent as Iran’s contingent in India’s international Milan 2026 naval drills. Its escort was sunk Tuesday by a U.S. Navy attack boat, expanding the Iran conflict to the Indo-Pacific and marking the first time an American submarine took out a warship with a torpedo since World War II.