Indian authorities had allowed an Iranian naval vessel to dock at Kochi days before the IRIS Dena incident off the southern coast of Sri Lanka, according to reports in Indian media citing government sources.
The reports said Iran approached India on 28 February seeking urgent permission for the Iranian ship IRIS Lavan to dock at Kochi after the vessel developed technical issues while in the region following the International Fleet Review. Approval was granted on 1 March and the ship docked at Kochi on 4 March, with its 183 crew members currently being accommodated at naval facilities in the city.
The development has drawn attention as it involves the third Iranian naval vessel linked to the unfolding events in the Indian Ocean in recent days.
On 4 March, the Iranian frigate IRIS Dena was torpedoed and sunk by a United States submarine in international waters about 40 nautical miles off the southern coast of Sri Lanka while returning from naval exercises in India.
Following that incident, a second Iranian vessel, IRIS Bushehr, requested permission to enter Sri Lankan waters due to technical issues, with Sri Lanka evacuating its crew and moving the ship to Trincomalee under humanitarian considerations.
With IRIS Dena destroyed, IRIS Bushehr currently under Sri Lankan custody and IRIS Lavan docked in India, three Iranian naval vessels involved in the same regional deployment have now become central to the rapidly developing maritime situation in the Indian Ocean. (Newswire)