US submarine didn't issue warning before firing torpedo at IRIS Dena: Iran envoy

The US submarine which sank Iranian warship IRIS Dena off Sri Lanka's coast did not issue any warning before launching the attack, an Iranian diplomat said on Thursday. Speaking to PTI Videos, Saeid Reza Mosayeb Motlagh, Iran's Consul General in Mumbai, also stated that his country will not create any obstacle for commercial ships in the Gulf of Hormuz, but any vessel suspected of using commercial cover to carry out hostile activities will be dealt with accordingly. The IRIS Dena was returning home after visiting India for naval exercises, and such ships do not carry significant war ammunition, the envoy said. Whatever limited ammunition it may have had would typically be used during the exercise itself. Therefore, it can be said that the warship was practically without military ammunition when it came under attack, he said. The ship was hit by a torpedo fired by an American submarine in international waters off Sri Lanka's southern coast on Tuesday. It was returning from Visakhapatnam after taking part in the International Fleet Review. ''The American submarine did not issue any prior warning to this vessel and launched a sudden attack, causing the ship to explode. Unfortunately, around 100 people, perhaps even more, including our compatriots and brave Iranian soldiers, were martyred in this incident. The others were injured, and the necessary arrangements are currently being made to transfer them to Iran,'' Motlagh said. Efforts are being made to facilitate their return to Iran through land borders, he added. Dena, one of Iran's newest warships, was a Moudge-class frigate that patrolled in deep waters. It was armed with heavy guns, surface-to-air missiles, anti-ship missiles and torpedoes. The vessel carried one helicopter. Sri Lanka's navy said on Wednesday it recovered 87 bodies and rescued 32 people from the sunken warship. The envoy said when flight operations become possible at airports in Iran, his government will coordinate with Indian authorities to arrange special aircraft to evacuate Indian nationals. Motlagh dubbed the US-Israel ''war'' on the Islamic Republic as ''unjust''. The widening conflict has ground tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz to a halt. Oil prices have soared as a result, highlighting the important role the narrow passageway plays in global energy supply. ''Iran will not create any obstacle for ships that are passing through purely for commercial purposes and without any malicious intent. But any vessel that is suspected of using commercial cover to carry out hostile activities against the Islamic Republic will be dealt with accordingly,'' Motlagh said. The Strait of Hormuz is one piece of the larger puzzle of the war, he said. ''Naturally, due to the war that the United States and the Zionist regime have imposed on us, the situation in that region is currently a wartime environment. Therefore, all vessels are potentially at risk,'' the envoy said. On Iranian supreme leader Ali Khameni's successor, he said the structure for selecting the next leader is clearly defined in the Constitution, and this process must be followed. For the time being, according to the law a council of the President, the Head of the Judiciary, and one of the jurists of the Guardian Council is currently responsible for the leadership system of the country and carries out the duties of the leader, he said. On other countries in the Gulf being at the receiving end of Tehran's attacks, the envoy said this war is between Iran, and the United States and Israel. ''We have no conflict with anyone else in the region. As history shows, for the past two hundred years Iran has not initiated aggression against any country, even its neighbours. Rather, it has repeatedly been the target of aggression,'' he said. The current war also began with the collapse of diplomacy. Iran did not start this war, and hence the United States must bear the consequences, Motlagh said.