, March 4 -- At least 80 people were killed after a United States submarine sank an Iranian warship in international waters off Sri Lanka's coast, Deputy Foreign Minister said Wednesday.

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth described the attack on the Iranian frigate IRIS Dena as the "first such strike on an enemy since World War II." Sri Lankan authorities rescued 32 wounded sailors and recovered several bodies after the ship sank just outside the country's territorial waters.

The frigate, carrying around 180 crew members, sent a distress call between 6am and 7am local time (00:30-01:30 GMT), about 40 nautical miles off Galle in southern Sri Lanka. The vessel had recently returned from the 2026 International Fleet Review in Vishakapatnam,...