Iranian warship sunk in Indian Ocean after US attack, confirms Pete Hegseth, says US and Israel ‘will have control of Iran skies’

Amid escalated military tensions between the US, Iran and Israel, the US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth said on Wednesday (March 4) that an Iranian warship sank in the Indian Ocean after the attack by the US. He said that the US had “torpedoed” the vessel in international waters. The confirmation came after a spokesperson for Sri Lanka’s navy earlier confirmed that multiple bodies have so far been recovered after the Iranian frigate Iris Dena sank just outside the island's territorial waters.

Hegseth said in a briefing that the US and Israel "will have complete control of Iran skies in under a week". He added, “We would use precision gravity bombs, which we have in unlimited stockpile. The enermy can no longer shoot the volume of missile they did. We can sustain this fight easilty. We will decide when to end the fight, on our terms.”

The Pentagon chief also added that six American soldiers died in Iranian strikes. He said the US will "avenge them". "Iranian senior leaders are dead. The council that had to select new leader is dead as well. Iranian air force is no more. It was by the US. Last night we sank their ship, their navy is no more," he further said.

Meanwhile, in the same briefing as Hegseth, the Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Dan Caine said that Iran's missile launches have dropped sharply since the start of the US-Israeli strikes on the country. “As of this morning, US Central Command is making steady progress. Iran’s theater ballistic missile shots fired are down 86 per cent from the first day of fighting,” Caine said.

There’s “a 23 per cent decrease just in the last 24 hours, and their one-way attack drone shots are down 73 per cent,” Caine added.