An Iranian ship, IRIS Lavan, docked in Kerala’s Kochi on Wednesday – a day after the United States sank warship IRIS Dena off the coast of Sri Lanka, reported The Print, quoting unidentified government officials.
Iran had requested approval from the Indian government to dock the IRIS Lavan on February 28 due to technical problems, according to ANI.
The approval was given on March 1 and the ship docked in Kochi on Wednesday.
The ship’s 183 crew members have been accommodated at naval facilities in Kochi, reported AFP.
Like the warship attacked by the US, IRIS Lavan had also taken part in the International Fleet Review held from February 15 to February 25 in Vishakhapatnam, where it had been docked alongside ships from several other countries.
Israel and the United States had launched a joint operation to “degrade the capabilities” of the Iranian government on February 28.
Israel has been claiming that Iran is close to obtaining a nuclear weapon, while Tehran has maintained that its nuclear programme is for civilian purposes.
Iran retaliated by striking Israel and US military bases in the region, and targeting major cities in other Gulf countries and some ships.
On Tuesday, warship IRIS Dena, with a capacity of 180 crew members, was torpedoed by a US submarine in international waters. At least 87 persons died in the incident and 61 were missing. The Sri Lankan Navy had rescued 32.
The US Department of War confirmed the attack on Wednesday. Hours later, the department released footage showing the torpedo hitting the Iranian frigate, resulting in an explosion.
On Thursday, Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi said that the warship that was struck was “a guest of India’s Navy” and had been attacked without warning. He said that the US would “come to bitterly regret [the] precedent it has set”.
New Delhi has not yet commented on the incident.
The Indian Navy on Thursday said it promptly launched search and rescue efforts on receiving information from Sri Lanka about the sinking of the Iranian warship.
On the same day, the Sri Lankan government said that it was trying to “safeguard lives” on another Iranian ship that was in international waters close to the island nation’s maritime boundary.
It was unclear if the ship had made a distress call to the Sri Lankan authorities.
After IRIS Dena was struck, Congress leader Pawan Khera had 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 had asked. “Or has that space also been quietly ceded to Washington and Tel Aviv?”
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