Moment survivors from torpedoed Iranian warship are rescued – as ANOTHER Tehran naval crew has to be saved off Sri Lanka when ship’s engines fail

Photos released by Sri Lankan officials show the moment survivors were rescued from a warship torpedoed by the US; just one day before another Iranian marine crew was rescued due to engine failure.

The Indian navy said it launched search and rescue operations on Wednesday after receiving a distress signal from IRIS Dena and two aircraft were deployed along with a sailing training ship.

The footage showed a massive explosion under Dena’s stern, followed by haunting images of her sinking after being hit by a torpedo launched from an American submarine.

It was stated that the Sri Lankan navy had already begun its own rescue efforts when the intervention was launched.

Sri Lankan navy rescued 32 sailors and recovered 87 bodies following the attack; along with photos and videos showing injured crew members being transported to hospital.

This came just a day before more than 200 sailors on an Iranian ship were rescued by Sri Lanka after the ship’s engine failed.

Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake said IRIS Bushehr took control of the country after requesting help while anchored outside the country’s waters.

Navy spokesperson Commander Buddhika Sampath said the IRIS Bushehr sailors were first brought to the Colombo port and the ship was later moved to the eastern port of the island.

Sri Lankan Navy sailors take one of the injured Iranian sailors to hospital from the warship IRIS Dena

Medical workers carry the bodies of Iranian sailors killed in the US torpedo attack on the frigate IRIS Dena

‘The disembarkation is ongoing,’ he said, adding that the sailors would be taken to the naval base at Welisara, about 19 kilometers north of Colombo, after medical examinations and immigration procedures.

IRIS Bushehr was described in previous Iranian media reports as a naval logistics ship with a helipad.

The attack on IRIS Dena marked one of the rare instances since World War II in which a submarine sank a surface warship and highlighted the expanding scope of US-Israeli military action against Iran.

While returning home, Dena participated in naval exercises hosted by India before going into international waters.

According to India’s defense ministry, at least 74 countries participated in the events, including the US navy, which conducted reconnaissance aircraft and maritime patrol exercises.

Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said the Dena was carrying ‘almost 130’ crew. The normal crew size of a warship of this class is 140.

Araghchi described the sinking as ‘an atrocity at sea’ and said the US would ‘bitterly regret’ the attack.

Sri Lankan President Dissanayake told reporters on Thursday night: ‘We must understand that this is not an ordinary situation. It is a request for a ship belonging to a party to enter our port. We have to evaluate this according to international agreements and conventions.’

On Friday he also wrote to X: ‘No civilians should die in wars. Our approach is that every life is as valuable as our own.’

Sri Lankan foreign minister Vijitha Herath also contacted X, saying that she had spoken to Araghchi and was ‘seriously concerned about the escalation of hostilities’.

Iran has strong economic and political ties with Sri Lanka, and the South Asian country has been purchasing $250 million worth of crude oil shipments from Iran.

Herath said ties with Iran had “significantly expanded” under Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in US-Israeli airstrikes on Saturday. However, Sri Lanka remains neutral in the current conflict.

Speaking to the Daily Mail, former Royal Navy chief Lord West said that the sinking of the ship turned a regional conflict into a ‘global war’.

“As some would say this is outside the Area of ​​Operations, which complicates the situation quite a bit,” West said.

‘Although it is a terrible event, it is acceptable for the USA to be at war with Iran. Nobody is declaring war these days, but that’s where we are.

‘This is a global war now. There would be nothing wrong with Iran attacking US targets anywhere. Toys were thrown out of the crib. ‘We are waging a war.’

A video released by the US Department of Defense on March 4, 2026 shows footage of a US Navy submarine firing on an Iranian warship and sinking it.

IRIS Dena (pictured) was sunk by a US submarine on Wednesday

As the war in the Middle East continues to rage, Sri Lanka is one of the latest countries to be dragged into the widening conflict.

Iran continued its attack in the Gulf overnight after the Islamic Republic said it would ‘bitterly regret’ for torpedoing the US warship.

On Friday, Iran launched missile and drone attacks on Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, which host US forces. There were no immediate reports of casualties.

Qatar’s Ministry of Defense reported that a drone attack targeting Al Udeid Air Base, which hosts the forward headquarters of the US Central Command, was foiled.

Saudi Arabia intercepted and destroyed three ballistic missiles fired early Friday towards Prince Sultan Air Base south of Riyadh, which hosts US forces, a spokesman for the Ministry of Defense said.

Air raid sirens sounded in Bahrain, where the Interior Ministry said Iranian attacks targeted two hotels and a residential building. It was stated that there was no loss of life.

In Lebanon, where the war has intensified fighting between Israel and Iran-allied Hezbollah militants, Israel launched a series of airstrikes in Beirut’s southern suburbs and other areas late Thursday and Friday.

Speaking at a press conference in Tampa, US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth warned that attacks against Iran will “increase dramatically” and said:

‘We have just started and we are fighting determinedly. If you think you see something, wait.’

He added: ‘Iran is hoping we can’t sustain this, which is a really bad miscalculation. Our ammunition is full and our will is strong.’

‘The amount of firepower over Iran and Tehran is about to increase dramatically.’

The US military said it shot down an Iranian drone ship early Friday and set it on fire.

The US military’s Central Command released black and white images of the burning aircraft carrier. The Iranian army did not immediately acknowledge the attack.

Drone carrier IRIS Shahid Bagheri is a converted container ship with a 180-meter runway for drones.

At its launch in 2005, it was stated that the ship could travel up to 22,000 nautical miles without the need to refuel in ports.

The clashes have killed at least 1,230 people in Iran, more than 120 in Lebanon and nearly a dozen in Israel, according to officials in those countries. Six US soldiers were killed.