Abbas Araghchi Says Iran Begins Legal Action Over US Submarine Attack on IRIS Dena

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Tehran has begun legal proceedings, in coordination with the Iranian Navy, over the attack on the IRIS Dena, calling it a "war crime" to be pursued through international legal channels.

Araghchi said the Foreign Ministry responded immediately after the incident, overseeing the transfer of the victims' remains and the evacuation of the wounded, after visiting an exhibition displaying personal belongings recovered from the vessel's fallen crew.

26 September Net

The IRIS Dena was returning from the multinational MILAN 2026 naval exercise hosted by India when it came under attack by a US submarine in international waters off the southern coast of Sri Lanka on March 4, 2026.

Iran's Army said 104 sailors were killed, 32 were injured, and several others were reported missing after the attack, which Araghchi described as a strike on personnel conducting a routine mission far from any battlefield.

Mehr News Agency quoted Saeed Khatibzadeh, Deputy Foreign Minister and head of the Center for Political and International Studies at the Foreign Ministry, saying the sinking of an Iranian warship returning from the mission was "very regrettable" and "cannot escape accountability for its perpetrators."

Tasnim quoted Asghar Imani, head of the International Law Group at the University of Justice, saying more than 40 days had passed since recent attacks against Iran, but international bodies, especially the United Nations and its main organs including the Security Council, had taken no practical, deterring, or effective action.

Imani said the Security Council's silence and inaction in the face of overt aggression calls its own legitimacy into question, warning that continued inaction could lead to a general weakening of the international law structure and distrust of international institutions by states.

Al-Masry Al-Youm

Imani also described the attack on the Minab girls' school as one of the clearest examples of violations of international humanitarian law, adding that some American media outlets had published documents confirming it was carried out deliberately and even in two rounds.

In the same Tasnim interview, Imani argued that the concept of a "preemptive strike" lacks legal basis under current conditions because it requires an imminent and real threat, which he said had not existed in the case of Iran.

Mehr News Agency also quoted Khatibzadeh saying the only precedent for such an act goes back to the era of Nazi Germany, when they attacked unarmed ships far from the conflict zone.

PressTV said the attack occurred on March 4, as the Dena was returning home after participating in the MILAN 2026 multinational naval exercise hosted by India.

PressTV reported the frigate was approximately 19 nautical miles off the coast of Galle, Sri Lanka, when it was struck by a Mark 48 torpedo fired from the US Navy’s Los Angeles-class submarine USS Charlotte.

PressTV said the vessel was unarmed at the time, with 136 crew members on board, 104 of whom were martyred and 32 injured, and Araghchi condemned the strike as an act of cowardice against a defenseless target far from the battlefield.

Tehran Times said the IRIS Dena is one of the Iranian Navy's most advanced domestically built frigates, and that it was struck without warning by a torpedo fired from an American submarine while returning from the exercise.

PressTV added that Araghchi said Tehran will pursue the US torpedo attack through all legal and political channels, and he said the Foreign Ministry’s legal department, in coordination with the Navy, is collecting all documents related to the incident for legal follow-up.