Shocking periscope footage exhibits US submarine sinking Iranian warship off Sri Lanka in first since torpedo assault since UK sank Belgrano in Falklands War  

Periscope footage has shown a US submarine sinking an Iranian warship off the coast of Sri Lanka in the first such attack since the British armed forces sank the General Belgrano in the Falklands War. 

The IRIS Dena was struck by American torpedoes in the Indian Ocean today, US War Secretary Pete Hegseth confirmed during a press conference at the White House.

Sri Lankan authorities rushed to the rescue of those on board, retrieving 32 people, with at least 80 confirmed to have died. Earlier they had said that 140 sailors were believed to be missing.

Video footage released by the US showed the moment that a torpedo struck the vessel, causing a huge explosion that sent water soaring high into the air.

In later images, the bow of the stricken warship was seen pointing skywards, with more than half the boat already having disappeared underneath the waves.

The War Secretary said it was the ‘first sinking of an enemy ship by a torpedo since World War Two’.

The naval strike comes on the fifth day of the conflict in the Middle East, after the US and Israel launched a wave of airstrikes on Iran on Saturday. In retaliation, Iran has conducted missile attacks on countries across the region.

Today Washington and Israel intensified its bombardment of Iran’s security forces and other symbols of power, while Tehran vowed to completely destroy the Middle East’s military and economic infrastructure and was accused of firing a ballistic missile into Turkish airspace.

Speaking at an earlier press conference, Hegseth confirmed that the US had been behind the sinking of the Iranian warship.

‘In the Indian Ocean – an American submarine sunk an Iranian warship, that thought it was safe in international waters,’ he said.

‘Instead, it was sunk by a torpedo – quiet death. 

‘The first sinking of an enemy ship by a torpedo since World War Two. Like in that war – back when we were still the War Department – we are fighting to win.’

But in fact the Royal Navy achieved the feat in May 1982 during the Falklands War, when Britain’s HMS Conqueror fired two torpedoes into the General Belgrano warship.

The attack led to the deaths of 323 Argentine sailors and controversy has raged ever since, with critics arguing that the ship had been sailing away from the 200-mile exclusion zone that had been declared around the Falklands by Britain. 

The Belgrano was sunk by the Royal Navy four weeks after the start of the 10-week conflict with Argentina, which broke out after troops from the South American country invaded the Falklands, on the orders of dictatorial leader General Leopoldo Galtieri. 

The Argentinian government later said the sinking of the Belgrano was an acceptable act of war, but that did not stop furious critics from arguing that Margaret Thatcher’s government was wrong to attack the vessel.

And in December 1971, the Indian frigate INS Khukri was sunk by torpedoes from the Pakistani submarine PNS Hangor.

International investigators also said a North Korean midget submarine successfully torpedoed a North Korean vessel in 2010. 

US warships have fired Tomahawk cruise missiles since World War Two against land targets, but this is the first time an American sub has launched a successful torpedo strike against a ship since 1945. 

Hegseth’s comments come after President Trump came under fire earlier this year after suggesting that British and other NATO troops stayed away from the frontlines in Afghanistan.

The UK has so far largely stayed out of the latest conflict in the Middle East, although Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has confirmed he will allow US forces to use British military bases to launch strikes against Iranian missile sites. 

The tempo of attacks on Iran was so intense today that state television announced the mourning ceremony for Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in the conflict, would be postponed. A three day ceremony and procession had been scheduled to start tonight.

In addition to striking Tehran on the fifth day of the conflict, Israel hit the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon, while Iran fired on Bahrain, Kuwait and Israel. As the conflict spiraled, Turkey said NATO defenses intercepted a ballistic missile launched from Iran before it entered Turkey’s airspace.

The war has killed more than 1,000 people in Iran and dozens in Lebanon, according to officials. It has disrupted the supply of the world’s oil and gas, snarled international shipping, and stranded hundreds of thousands of travelers in the Middle East.

Israel said it hit buildings associated with Iran’s Basij, the all-volunteer force of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard that conducted a bloody crackdown on protesters in January that killed thousands and saw tens of thousands detained in the country.

The Israeli military also said it hit buildings associated with Iran’s internal security command, which also has suppressed demonstrations in the past. It also pounded towns near Beirut.

Israel and the US have said they want to see the Iranian public overthrow the country’s theocracy, and strikes against counterprotest forces are likely part of that effort.

Iranian state television showed the ruins of buildings in the center of the capital of Tehran, with interviewees saying the attacks damaged their homes. Strikes have also been reported in the holy Shiite seminary city of Qom, targeting a building associated with a clerical panel set to pick Iran’s next supreme leader. Iranian media said it was empty at the time.

State TV has begun calling the conflict the ‘Ramadan war,’ a reference to the holy Muslim fasting month currently taking place. But that term also suggested leaders are trying to prepare the public for a protracted conflict.

Adm. Brad Cooper, the top US military commander in the Middle East, echoed that sentiment, saying: ‘We’ve just begun.’

Cooper said American forces have damaged Iran’s air defenses and taken out ballistic missiles, launchers and drones. Israeli military spokesman Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin said such damage has led to a decline in launches from Iran.

Still, explosions echoed in the skies over Jerusalem on Wednesday. Israel’s military said Iran launched missiles toward the country, and Hezbollah sent rockets.

Iran has also struck around the region, and air sirens sounded Wednesday across Bahrain, home to the US Navy’s 5th Fleet.

At least 1,045 people have been killed in Iran, the country’s Foundation of Martyrs and Veterans Affairs said on Wednesday. A further 50 have died in Lebanon, according to its health ministry.

Eleven people have been killed in Israel, as have six US troops.

Elsewhere today Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard issued its most-intense threat yet, saying the strikes against it would ‘cost of the complete destruction of the region’s military and economic infrastructure.’

A container ship was attacked on Wednesday afternoon while passing through the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which about a fifth of the world’s oil is shipped. The ship was hit by an unknown projectile, the UK’s Maritime Trade Operations said.

With Iranian attacks traffic through the strait, oil prices soared. Global stock markets have been hammered over worries that the spike in oil prices may grind down the world economy and sap corporate profits.

As well as carrying out broad strikes across the region, the Iranian regime is consumed by finding a replacement to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who was killed on Saturday after ruling for 37 years.

Potential candidates range from hard-liners committed to confrontation with the West to reformists who seek diplomatic engagement. Mojtaba Khamenei, Khamenei’s son, has long been considered among them – despite the fact he’s has never been elected or appointed to a government position.

In a sign that Iran’s leadership will only seek to consolidate its power as it faces its biggest crisis in decades, the head of the judiciary warned Wednesday that ‘those who cooperate with the enemy in any way will be considered an enemy.’

Israel’s defense minister, meanwhile, threatened whoever Iran picks to be the country’s next supreme leader.

‘Every leader appointed by the Iranian terror regime to continue and lead the plan to destroy Israel, to threaten the United States and the free world and the countries of the region, and to suppress the Iranian people – will be a target for elimination,’ Israel Katz wrote on X.

It’s not clear how Washington will respond if a new leader in the mould of Khamenei is chosen.