A surviving sailor from the sunken Iranian warship IRIS Dena has given a harrowing first-hand account of the US submarine attack that killed 104 of his crewmates last month in the Indian Ocean. Hamed Momeneh, one of the 32 sailors rescued after the sinking, told Iranian media that the American attack came without any warning and was clearly aimed at killing everyone on board. “It was around 3:00 to 3:30 a.m. when we were suddenly attacked,” Momeneh said. “The attack was completely against international maritime laws. It was not a war zone, and we had received no warning. It was carried out by a submarine.”
He claimed the first torpedo hit while all 104 crew members were at their posts. “Fortunately, there were no casualties from the first strike,” he added. “But if their aim had only been to damage the ship, they could have targeted other parts. Their main goal was to kill the crew.” Momeneh said none of the sailors abandoned the ship. “For us, the Dena was like the soil of Iran. Leaving it had no meaning,” he explained. “Everyone stood their ground until the end.”
The crew reportedly stayed with the vessel until around 11 p.m., after which they were forced to jump into the ocean and swim toward the Sri Lankan coast. The IRIS Dena was struck by the MK-48 Torpedo launched from a US submarine on March 4th while travelling at sea, approximately 40 nautical miles northwest of Galle, Sri Lanka. This event occurred after the ship had participated in the Annual Indian Navy Maritime Exercises MILAN.
Out of the 104 crew members on board, 87 bodies were later recovered and 32 sailors were rescued. The Iranian sailor’s dramatic account was shared by Tasnim News Agency and highlighted by the Iranian embassy. It comes as tensions between the US and Iran remain extremely high following the recent war in the region. No immediate comment has been made by the US military on the sailor’s claims.
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