Iranian warship docks at Indian port after technical fault
The ship, IRIS Lavan, is currently docked at Kochi in the southern Indian state of Kerala.
An Iranian naval vessel has docked at an Indian port after developing a technical problem, days before a United States submarine sank another Iranian warship in the Indian Ocean, according to Indian media reports.
The ship, IRIS Lavan, is currently docked at Kochi in the southern Indian state of Kerala, where its 183 crew members have been accommodated at Indian naval facilities on humanitarian grounds since Wednesday (4 March), media reports citing government sources.
The vessel developed technical issues, and Iran requested emergency docking permission from India on 28 February. India approved the request on Sunday (1 March), allowing the ship to enter the Kochi naval base.
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The development came shortly before another Iranian warship, IRIS Dena, was sunk by a US submarine off the southern coast of Sri Lanka on Wednesday, killing at least 87 Iranian sailors.
IRIS Dena had been returning to Iran after participating in a multilateral naval exercise hosted by India when it was attacked in international waters in the Indian Ocean.
India's decision to grant emergency docking to the Iranian vessel has drawn attention amid heightened regional tensions following the sinking of IRIS Dena.
US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said during a Pentagon media briefing that the sinking of IRIS Dena marked the first time since World War II that a torpedo had been used to destroy an enemy warship in combat.
