At least 80 persons were killed after a United States submarine sunk an Iranian warship in the Indian Ocean, Reuters quoted Sri Lanka’s deputy foreign minister as telling local television on Wednesday.

The US Department of War has confirmed the attack that occurred off the coast of Sri Lanka on Tuesday.

US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said on Wednesday that the ship was sunk by a torpedo.

Later on Wednesday, the US Department of War also released footage of the torpedo hitting the Iranian frigate, resulting in an explosion.

Sri Lanka on Wednesday rescued 32 “critically injured” sailors from the warship, AFP quoted the island country’s Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath as saying.

The Iranian frigate, IRIS Dena, had a capacity of 180 crew members. The Daily Mirror had earlier reported that 101 persons were missing after the explosion.

The warship had attended an International Fleet Review , which was held from February 15 to February 25 in Vishakhapatnam, where it had been docked alongside ships from several other countries.

Congress leader Pawan Khera noted that the explosion took place “at the edge of Indian waters near Sri Lanka”.

“Does India have no influence left in its own neighbourhood?” he asked. “Or has that space also been quietly ceded to Washington and Tel Aviv?”

The explosion on the Iranian warship took place amid a joint operation launched by the United States and Israel against the Iranian government. Tel Aviv and Washington have claimed that Tehran’s actions pose an “existential threat” to Israel. Washington acts as a guarantor of Israel’s security.

Israel has been claiming that Iran is close to obtaining a nuclear weapon, which could alter the regional security balance. Tehran, however, has long maintained that its nuclear programme is for civilian purposes.

Iran retaliated to the joint operation by striking Israel and US military bases in the region, and targeting major cities in other Gulf countries and some ships.

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in the attacks on Saturday.

On Wednesday, an unidentified Sri Lankan official told the news agency that the search for the other crew members was on, “but we don’t know yet what happened to the rest of the crew”.

The rescue mission was launched in line with international maritime obligations, Sri Lanka Navy spokesman Buddhika Sampath was quoted as saying by the Daily Mirror.

Herath told the country’s Parliament that two Sri Lankan Navy vessels and an aircraft were deployed for the rescue operation.

An Opposition legislator asked whether the warship had been bombed as part of the ongoing attacks by the US and Israel on Iran, reported AFP. However, there was no immediate response from the government.

The killing of Khamenei, a significant figure among Shia Muslims globally, further escalated an already volatile situation in the region. He had controlled all branches of the Iranian government and the armed forces since 1989.

On Tuesday, the Iranian Red Crescent said that 787 persons had been killed in the country since the US and Israel began attacking it.

India’s Directorate General of Shipping confirmed on Monday that three Indian seafarers were killed and one was injured amid the conflict in West Asia. It did not provide details of the incidents but said that the four were working on board foreign-flagged vessels.