Hegseth confirmed that the U.S. struck an Iranian warship in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Sri Lanka.
“An American submarine sunk an Iranian warship that thought it was safe in international waters. Instead, it was sunk by a torpedo,” he said.
The Defense Department posted a video of the strike on X on Wednesday. Hegseth said it was the U.S.’ first sinking of an enemy ship by a torpedo since World War II.
Cmdr. Buddhika Sampath, spokesman for the Sri Lankan navy, said 32 people were rescued and there were several bodies in the sea, though he declined to say how many people had died.
