India has allowed an Iranian warship to anchor off the southern port of Kochi following Tehran’s appeal and the ship’s 183-member crew has been accommodated in naval facilities. Government officials said on Friday that this incident occurred two days after a US submarine targeted and sank an Iranian frigate with a torpedo off the coast of Sri Lanka.

The IRIS Lavan warship had arrived in the region last month to participate in the International Fleet Review organized by India. It arrived in Kochi on Wednesday, the same day the frigate Iris Dena sank about 19 nautical miles off the Sri Lankan coast, killing 87 sailors.

Sri Lankan authorities on Thursday allowed another Iranian warship, Iris Bushehr, to seek refuge in the country and accommodated its 208-member crew in a naval base. Iris Bushehr also participated in India’s International Fleet Review and sought permission to enter the Sri Lankan port after suffering engine failure.

India gave asylum to IRIS Lavan
An official said Iris Lavan, who was in the area for the International Fleet Review, was approached by Iran on February 28 for asylum in India. He further said, ‘Permission to enter the port was granted on March 1 and Iris Lavan reached Kochi on March 4.’ Officials said that in the request from the Iranian side, it was said that it was necessary to land the ship in Kochi as the IRIS Lavan had encountered technical problems. He said that 183 crew members of the warship have been accommodated in naval facilities located in Kochi.

The sinking of the IRIS Dena has heightened concerns in India, Sri Lanka and other Indian Ocean countries about the growing scope of the Iran-US conflict and its impact on maritime trade in regional waters. People familiar with the matter have described the Indian government’s handling of the crisis as practical and in line with long-term national interests.

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There were no weapons on the Iranian warship that sank due to an attack by a US submarine in international waters near the coast of Sri Lanka. A senior Iranian official made this claim on Thursday (March 5, 2026).

He described the targeting of the ship as against international law. The Iranian ship ‘Iris Dena’ was returning home after participating in the Milan multilateral naval exercise organized by India when it was attacked in the early hours of Wednesday.

According to Sri Lankan officials, at least 87 Iranian sailors were killed in this attack. Iran’s Supreme Leader’s representative in India, Ayatollah Dr. Abdul Majeed Hakimelahi, said in an interview to PTI, ‘Targeting the Iranian ship is against international law, because they did not have any kind of weapons.’

He said, ‘They (Iranian sailors) came here for practice. After the exercise was over, they wanted to go back to Iran and were attacked by America. Hakimelahi said, ‘This is against humanity, morality and justice.’ On the current conflict, he said that Iran is defending itself.

Hakimelahi said, ‘We were in talks with America. In Oman we negotiated in good faith and we stuck to the negotiations. We did not leave the talks, but during the talks they (America) attacked us.

He admitted that many commanders were killed in the recent US-Israeli air strikes. The official said that hundreds of civilians including children have also been killed in these attacks. “They attacked a primary school, killing children aged seven to 12,” Hakimelahi said. At least 173 students have been killed.

He said, ‘Israel and America attacked Gandhi Hospital in Iran and took the lives of many children and infants. They are also killing our citizens in Tehran and Isfahan. Hakimelahi said, ‘They are attacking our citizens but the Iranian people will never tolerate humiliation and they will fight until the last drop of blood.’