Sri Lanka offloads 208 crew members from second Iranian ship a day after US strike sinks frigate
Sri Lanka began offloading 208 crew members from a second Iranian vessel a day after 87 people were killed and several others were still missing following a U.S. submarine strike on an Iranian warship in the same region.
“After detailed discussions with all parties, Sri Lanka has decided to assist the Iranian vessel,” Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake told reporters at a press briefing in Colombo, Reuters reported.
Among the crew members being offloaded the ship, which is near the port of Colombo, were 53 officials, 84 cadets, 48 senior sailors and 23 sailors, Dissanayake said.
The Iranian ship, the IRIS Dena, was sunk Wednesday off Sri Lanka’s coast in the Indian Ocean. Officials there have dispatched two freezers to store 87 bodies recovered at sea.
Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the ship was “effectively neutralized” in a Navy “fast attack” using a single Mark 48 torpedo. He added that the U.S. Navy achieved “immediate effect, sending the warship to the bottom of the sea.”
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Iran contends the ship was sunk in international waters without warning.
“The U.S. will bitterly regret the precedent it has set,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said in a post on X.
Iran has asked Sri Lanka to assist with the repatriation of the bodies.
Sri Lankan officials said the Dena was on its way home after taking part in a naval exercise organized by India in the Bay of Bengal from Feb. 18 to 25.
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Search and rescue operations would continue for an estimated 10 people who remain unaccounted for, they said.
Iranian women’s soccer fans show support for Trump as team appears to pivot on national anthem stance
The Iranian women’s soccer team appeared to pivot from its silent stance at the Women’s Asian Cup Thursday, singing and saluting during its national anthem before its match against Australia.
Iranian fans voiced support for President Donald Trump in the stands amid the ongoing joint military campaign against Iran.
Before the start of the match against Australia, the women’s team notably participated in the performance of the anthem. The women saluted as rain added to the somber moment.
It was in stark contrast to the opening match against South Korea, when the women’s squad stood silent as Iranian head coach Marziyeh Jafari, also silent, smiled at her team. The silence was interpreted by some as an act of resistance amid the ongoing joint military strikes by the U.S. and Israel against Iran.
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But, according to reports, the squad was “instructed” to participate in their next match. The team has remained silent on the subject since before the start of the tournament. The Women’s Asian Cup did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The night before Iran’s 4-0 loss to Australia, Iranian striker Sara Didar choked back tears as she shared the concerns of players and management for families and loved ones during the war.
“Obviously, we’re all concerned, and we’re sad at what has happened to Iran and our families in Iran,” Didar said in comments translated into English during a news conference. “I really hope for our country to have good news ahead. And I hope that my country will be strongly alive.”
Jafari and other players declined to answer questions about the war at their opening news conference Sunday. On Wednesday, moderators asked reporters to stick to soccer-related questions.
Meanwhile, supporters of Iran voiced their support for Trump and a free Iran during Thursday’s match. Pre-Islamic Revolution flags were waving in the crowd, while others held up signs with letters spelling Trump’s name.
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In video remarks posted to Truth Social, Trump encouraged the Iranian people to take over their government once the United States and Israel finished “major combat operations” in Iran.
“The hour of your freedom is at hand. Stay sheltered. Don’t leave your home. It’s very dangerous outside,” he said, addressing the Iranian people. “This will be, probably, your only chance for generations.
“For many years, you have asked for America’s help, but you never got it. No President was willing to do what I am willing to do tonight. Now you have a President who is giving you what you want.”
Iran’s ‘death by 1,000 cuts’ strategy backfires as US refuses ‘nuclear roulette,’ ex-special ops soldier says
A former U.S. special operations soldier told Fox News Iran’s strategy of incrementally eroding its enemies’ forces has become ineffective, and the United States signaled it will not engage in what he calls “nuclear roulette.”
Iran’s campaign of attacks across the Middle East and beyond has hit at least 12 countries, raising concerns the regime could be intentionally prolonging the war.
“Iran’s strategy has always been this death by a thousand cuts. Launch a few drones here, arm a proxy militia there, threaten shipping lanes somewhere else,” Brett Velicovich said Thursday on “The Faulkner Focus.”
“But that strategy only works if the United States hesitates,” he added, arguing that the United States has responded reservedly in the past.
“But we are done abandoning our red lines, and it’s clear our leadership is no longer going to play nuclear roulette with this regime. … We’re watching the entire chessboard,” he said. “We’re prepared to respond wherever American interests are threatened.”
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Velicovich made his comments as U.S. forces launch precision strikes on Iranian missile infrastructure.
Rather than sending neighbors into a tailspin, Velicovich said Tehran’s attempt at regional escalation has instead unified adversaries and triggered a more forceful response.
Iran has fired on Israel, Turkey, Azerbaijan, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Cyprus and Bahrain, among others.
Fox News chief national security correspondent Jennifer Griffin said Thursday on “The Faulkner Focus” that the seemingly erratic strikes support Iran’s strategy of widening the war and forcing its adversaries to burn through limited supplies of high-tech missile interceptors and raise oil prices by threatening ships in the Strait of Hormuz.
“This is not a country defending itself anymore,” Velicovich said. “It’s a regime exporting chaos in every direction. It’s a regime full of psychopaths that should not exist in modern society.”
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The United States and Israel on Saturday launched strikes targeting Iran’s leadership, including its Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed. Iran’s missile arsenal and nuclear facilities were also hit in the campaign, dubbed Operation Epic Fury.
Iran has carried out retaliatory strikes since then, with the latest wave coming one day after the United States sank an Iranian warship, killing at least 87 Iranian sailors.
Red Cross shares audio of Iranian civilian explaining situation on the ground in Tehran: ‘No respite’
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) released audio Thursday of a civilian in Tehran describing what it’s like on the ground as Operation Epic Fury rocks Iran.
“To us here, the war did not start four days ago. It started when we heard the initial news of a piling up of the forces in the region and preparations for war. Now, with the war going on, we hear constant explosions, and there is no respite from this,” the unidentified civilian said.
The civilian said the frequency of explosions has made people so nervous that even everyday noises can cause panic attacks.
“Any moment you can expect a loud noise. This has made us so nervous that any loud noise, including the noise of a car passing by, gives us a panic attack,” the civilian said.
Even with the noise of the explosions, the civilian, who said he was born and raised in Tehran, noticed the city had become a ghost town as people had either fled the war or limited movements to stay safe from aerial attacks.
“As a person who was born and lived his whole life in this city, I have never seen the city so quiet,” the civilian said. “Some of the people of my city have left. Many others stayed in, trying to limit movements to avoid getting caught in the aerial attacks on the city that never seem to come to an end. You don’t see people around. My city was a very big city and busy. I’m not used to seeing my city so calm and quiet.”
The U.S. and Israel have carried out air and sea attacks on Iran since the operation began Saturday. The operation has killed at least 1,230 people in Iran, according to The Associated Press. Additionally, six U.S. service members in Kuwait were killed in the hostilities.
“The ICRC is alarmed by growing threats to the safety and dignity of civilians in Iran, Israel, Lebanon and the Gulf region as major military operations continue to escalate. Civilians are already paying a very heavy price. They are being injured and killed, and civilian infrastructure including houses, schools, hospitals and airports is being affected. Collective political will is needed to stop the catastrophic chain reaction that is endangering countless lives,” an ICRC spokesperson told Fox News Digital.
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“Across the region, civilians are confined to shelters or scrambling in search of safety. Many have spent sleepless nights shaken by the sound of explosions and lost contact with family members. They are living in fear for their lives and the lives of their loved ones. With airspace restrictions, people are trapped within an expanding battlefield that is already affecting populated urban areas,” the ICRC spokesperson added.
The ICRC has previously expressed concerns about the situation in Iran, and the organization’s president said on day one of Operation Epic Fury that it could have “devastating consequences for civilians.”
“The military escalation in the Middle East is igniting a dangerous chain reaction across the region, with potentially devastating consequences for civilians,” ICRC President Mirjana Spoljaric said.
In a statement issued a few days later, Spoljaric warned that “the scale of major military operations flaring across the Middle East risks embroiling the region — and beyond — into another large-scale armed conflict that will overwhelm any humanitarian response.”
“Without urgent steps to de-escalate the situation and respect the rules of war, further civilian lives will be lost,” Spoljaric added. “Civilians are already suffering the consequences of war.”
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According to the civilian, Iranians on the ground are worried about the future and wonder how the war will play out. Another fear among the people is the possibility of supplies running out.
“The supplies are available in the shops that are open and work. But what if the situation gets worse or continues as it is now? Will the supplies being stocked be of any help, or will they be meaningless in the face of what can happen?” the civilian wondered.
“It is especially more worrying for people like me, who have to take care of people with medical complications that require special care. We are now under a lot of stress, worried to see what can come next.”
Fox News Digital reached out to the ICRC for comment.