New Delhi, March 4 -- The Pentagon has released dramatic footage showing the moment an Iranian warship was struck and destroyed by a US submarine in the Indian Ocean, marking a major escalation in the widening Middle East conflict.

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth confirmed that an American submarine torpedoed and sank Iran's frigate IRIS Dena approximately 25 miles south of Sri Lanka.

"Yesterday, in the Indian Ocean, an American submarine sunk an Iranian warship that thought it was safe in international waters," Hegseth said at a briefing at the Pentagon.

"Instead, it was sunk by a torpedo - a quiet death. The first sinking of an enemy ship by a torpedo since World War Two."

Sri Lankan authorities have confirmed at least 80 sailors ...