New Delhi: Former Indian Foreign Secretary and current JNU Chancellor Kanwal Sibal on Thursday commented on the sinking of the Iranian warship IRIS Dena by a US submarine in the Indian Ocean, stressing India’s limited role in the incident and underlining the moral responsibility of the country.

Sibal, who has served as India’s Ambassador to Turkey, Egypt, France, and Russia, wrote on X, “The Iranian ship will not be where it was if we had not invited it to talk part in our Milan exercise. We were the hosts. I am told that as per protocol for this exercise ships cannot carry any ammunition. It was defenceless. The Iranian naval personnel had paraded before our president. The attack by the US submarine was premeditated as the US was aware of the Iranian ship’s presence in the exercise to which the US navy was invited but withdrew from participation at the last minute, presumably with this operation in mind. The US has ignored India’s sensitivities as the ship was in these waters because of India’s invitation.

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We are far from politically or militarily responsible for the US attack. Our ‘responsibility’ is at a moral and human plane. A word of condolence by the Indian Navy (after political clearance) at the loss of lives of those who were our invitees and saluted our president would be in order.”

The remarks come as tensions continue to escalate in the Middle East following the US-Israel military operation that targeted Iran’s naval assets, including the IRIS Dena. The attack, conducted by a US submarine near the coast of Sri Lanka, resulted in the death of 87 Iranian sailors, while 32 were rescued.

Earlier, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had criticised the government, posting on X that “India has a compromised PM who has surrendered our strategic autonomy,” while warning that over 40% of India’s oil imports transit the Strait of Hormuz, making energy security vulnerable amid regional hostilities.

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US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth described the IRIS Dena as one of Iran’s key naval assets and confirmed that the attack formed part of a broader campaign to neutralise Iranian maritime capabilities. “An American submarine sunk an Iranian warship that thought it was safe in international waters,” Hegseth said. “Instead, it was sunk by a torpedo.”

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi condemned the attack, calling it an “atrocity at sea” and warning that the US “will come to bitterly regret (the) precedent it has set.”