Iran claims it hit US tanker, set it ablaze after US torpedo attack on warship IRIS Dena

Hours after a United States submarine sank the Iranian warship IRIS Dena in the Indian Ocean, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on Thursday claimed it struck an American tanker in the northern Persian Gulf. Iranian state media reported that the tanker had caught fire following the attack, marking a sharp escalation in the ongoing confrontation between the two countries.

The strike came shortly after Iran’s foreign minister warned that the United States would “bitterly regret” the torpedo attack on the Iranian frigate off the Sri Lankan coast. The IRGC also issued a statement asserting that it would control the passage of ships through the Strait of Hormuz, a critical global energy shipping route.

The escalation follows the sinking of IRIS Dena, which had been returning to Iran after participating in naval exercises in Visakhapatnam last month. The vessel was struck by a US torpedo in international waters, leaving 87 Iranian sailors dead. While 32 crew members, including the commander, were rescued, more than 60 remain missing.

Video footage released by the US Pentagon showed a powerful explosion after the torpedo struck the rear of the vessel, which soon sank. The attack is believed to have involved the Mark-48 heavyweight torpedo, a key weapon in US submarine warfare capability and reportedly the first torpedo strike by an American submarine to sink a ship since World War II.

The maritime exchange comes amid intensifying hostilities between the United States, Israel and Iran. Over the past several days, air strikes and retaliatory missile and drone attacks across the region have led to heavy casualties and heightened fears that the conflict could expand further, particularly around key shipping routes in the Gulf.