Sri Lanka, March 11 -- Iran has accused the United States of obstructing rescue operations after the sinking of its IRIS Dena vessel near Sri Lanka earlier this month.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said the vessel had been invited by the Indian Navy to take part in a joint naval exercise and port visit when it was attacked near the coasts of India and Sri Lanka on Wednesday.

In a post on X, Baghaei described the attack as a "brutal act amounting to a war crime" and alleged that the United States had "deliberately obstructed rescue operations for the sailors".

Iran says 104 sailors were killed in the incident. Earlier, we reported that the bodies of 84 of the sailors have since been identified and will be repatriated to ...