US Defence Secretary, Pete Hegseth has announced that a torpedo from a US submarine has sank an Iranian warship in the Indian Ocean.

At a press briefing with the Chair of the Joint Chiefs Gen Dan Caine, Hegseth did not name the Iranian ship that was attacked but earlier, the Sri Lankan navy reported the IRIS Dena went down in the Indian Ocean, with around 140 people on board missing.

Earlier confirmation from the Sri Lankan navy pointed to the rescue of 32 people after a distress call from the Iranian IRIS Dena, early this morning.

Budhika Sampath, the Spokesman of Sri Lanka’s navy said, “Though it was beyond our waters, it was within our search and rescue region.”

“So we were obliged to respond as per international obligations. We found people floating on the water, rescued them, and later when we inquired we found that those people are from an Iranian ship.”
Budhika Sampath

He also that according to the documentation of the ship, 180 people are believed to have been on board, although the exact number of missing is unknown. The Spokesman said at the time of launching the rescue operations, they did not see the vessel but saw oil patches on the water and floating life rafts.

At the press briefing, Hegseth stressed that America is winning, “decisively, devastatingly and without mercy.” “We are only four days in” he said, adding, “as Trump has said” the US “will take all the time we need” to make sure the operation is a success. He said that more forces including jet fighters and bombers soon will arrive in the region.

Hegseth stated that the results over the past four days have been incredible and historic. “They are toast, and they know it,” he said, referring to the Iranian regime.

He added that US forces have begun to “hunt, dismantle, demoralise, destroy and defeat” the regime’s capabilities. He said that Iranian leaders will be looking up and seeing only “US and Israeli air power” until US and Israel decide the war is over.

Hegseth noted that this “was never meant to be a fair fight, and it’s not a fair fight,” adding that the US is punching Iran “while they’re down.” “More and larger waves are coming, we are just getting started,” he said.

Additionally, the US Defence Secretary said that the timeline could go further than previously speculated.

“You can say four weeks, but it could be six, it could be eight, it could be three. Ultimately, we set the pace and the tempo.”
Pete Hegseth

Gen Dan Caine, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, iterated the same stance, telling reporters that the war is “far from over.”

At the briefing alongside Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth, Caine did not lay out a specific timeline for exactly how long the military campaign might continue.

However, he also said that the US planned to strike “progressively deeper into Iranian territory.” The comments followed statements from President Donald Trump and Secretary of State, Marco Rubio earlier this week that the US has not delivered its hardest blow to the Iranian regime.

The President and other advisers have offered a wide range of reasons for attacking Iran but they have consistently signaled the war won’t be short, and their updates this week suggest nothing has changed.

What the administration hasn’t addressed is how a protracted conflict will impact the rest of the region — and its potential political fallout back home.

Polls show the war is broadly unpopular in the US. The longer it continues, the more damaging it might be to the White House and Republicans heading into the midterm elections.

Hegseth Hails Israel’s Capabilities

Moreover, Hegseth praised Israel and said that their part in the war is being executed with “unmatched skill and iron determination.”

He said that fighting alongside such a capable ally is a “breath of fresh air.”

Hegseth claimed that this is “bold action” from President Trump putting “America first.”

Also, he asserted that Iran tried to kill President Trump and “President Trump got the last laugh.” He said that on Tuesday, the US “hunted down and killed” the “leader of the unit who attempted to assassinate President Trump.”

In 2024, the US government brought charges against an Afghan national in connection with an alleged Iranian plot to assassinate Trump before he was elected that year. The Department of Justice alleged that Farhad Shakeri, then 51, was tasked with “providing a plan” to kill Trump. The US government said then that Shakeri was believed to be in Iran.