Highlights:
- US deploys more troops, aircraft as Iran war intensifies
- US submarine sinks Iranian frigate near Sri Lanka
- Over 2,000 targets struck; Iranian navy largely neutralised
- More than 1,000 reported killed across Iran
- NATO intercepts Iranian missile near Turkish airspace
- Congress debates war powers as conflict widens regionally
The United States is sending additional troops and military aircraft to the Middle East as its war with Iran intensifies, with Washington also confirming that a US submarine torpedoed and sank an Iranian warship in the Indian Ocean in a major escalation of the conflict.
US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Wednesday that the US-Israeli military campaign against Iran was “just getting started”, as Washington expanded operations across the region.
“We are accelerating, not decelerating … More bombers and more fighters are arriving just today,” Hegseth told reporters during a briefing at the Pentagon.
He said the US military would deploy a “nearly unlimited” supply of 226kg (500lb), 453kg (1,000lb) and 900kg (2,000lb) bombs in the campaign.
“The US and Israel will sow death and destruction from the sky, all day long,” he said.
The war, now in its fifth day, has killed at least 1,045 people across Iran since Saturday, according to Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency. Legal experts have criticised the offensive as a violation of the United Nations Charter, while humanitarian groups have warned about the growing civilian toll.
US sinks Iranian warship
The latest escalation came after a US submarine torpedoed and sank an Iranian frigate in the Indian Ocean on Wednesday.
Hegseth said the vessel was struck by a submarine-launched torpedo off the southern coast of Sri Lanka, marking the first time since the Second World War that a US Navy submarine has sunk an enemy combatant ship in battle.
“An American submarine sunk an Iranian warship that thought it was safe in international waters,” Hegseth said.
“Instead, it was sunk by a torpedo. Quiet death. Like in that war, we are fighting to win.”
The frigate, identified as IRIS Dena, had recently taken part in the “Milan” multilateral naval exercise hosted by India in the Bay of Bengal from 18 to 25 February.
The ship was returning to Iran from an eastern Indian port when it was attacked.
Hegseth also said the Iranian navy had been largely crippled during the conflict.
“The Iranian navy rests at the bottom of the Persian Gulf,” he said, describing it as “ineffective, decimated, destroyed”.
He added that the United States and Israel would soon have “complete control of Iranian skies, uncontested airspace”.
Dozens killed in strike
Sri Lankan authorities said the warship issued a distress call early Wednesday about 40 kilometres south of the port city of Galle.
Sri Lanka’s deputy foreign minister said at least 87 sailors were killed in the attack. Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath said 180 people had been on board the ship.
The Sri Lankan navy rescued 32 crew members and took them to hospital in Galle, while search operations continued for the remaining sailors.
However, officials warned that hopes of finding more survivors were fading, with as many as 148 sailors reported missing.
Naval spokesman Commander Buddhika Sampath said rescue vessels arriving at the scene found only an oil slick where the ship had sunk.
“We are hopeful we can rescue more people and will continue operations until we are sure,” Sampath said.
Sri Lanka said the incident occurred outside its territorial waters but that it responded to the distress call under international maritime obligations. Naval aircraft and patrol boats were deployed for search operations, and several bodies were recovered from the sea.
Iranian naval power ‘neutralised’
US Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman General Dan Caine said American forces had struck more than 2,000 targets since the war began.
He said the US military had destroyed more than 20 Iranian naval vessels in addition to the frigate sunk near Sri Lanka.
“To date, we’ve hit over 2,000 targets,” Caine said. “We destroyed more than 20 Iranian naval vessels in addition to the frigate outside of the area.”
He added that the US had “effectively neutralised Iran’s major naval presence”.
“For the first time since 1945, a United States Navy fast-attack submarine has sunk an enemy combatant ship,” Caine said.
“This is an incredible demonstration of America’s global reach.”
Hegseth also said US forces had killed an Iranian official who led a covert unit allegedly involved in a plot to assassinate Donald Trump in 2024. “The leader of the unit who attempted to assassinate President Trump has been hunted down and killed,” he said.
“Iran tried to kill President Trump and President Trump got the last laugh.”
Tehran has previously denied allegations that it planned to assassinate the former US president.
NATO intercepts missile near Turkey
The conflict also drew in NATO air defences on Wednesday after a ballistic missile fired from Iran was intercepted before entering Turkish airspace.
Turkish authorities said NATO missile defence systems stationed in the eastern Mediterranean destroyed the projectile.
A Turkish diplomatic source said Ankara summoned the Iranian ambassador to express concern over the incident.
Hegseth said there was no indication the episode would trigger NATO’s collective defence clause.
Debate over US war powers
The expanding conflict has also sparked political debate in Washington.
Lawmakers in the US Senate were set to vote on a bipartisan war powers resolution seeking to halt the military campaign against Iran unless Congress formally authorises it.
Democratic Senator Tim Kaine, one of the sponsors of the resolution, said Congress must reclaim its constitutional authority to declare war.
“I do think it’s really important to put every member of Congress on the record about this,” Kaine said.
“If you don’t have the guts to vote ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ on a war vote, how dare you send our sons and daughters into war where they risk their lives?”
Republicans, who hold slim majorities in Congress, have previously blocked similar efforts, accusing Democrats of politicising national security.
Air strikes across the region
The regional conflict has continued to widen as Israel and Hezbollah exchange attacks across the Lebanon-Israel border.
Israeli fighter jets launched fresh air strikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs on Wednesday, targeting buildings in Haret Hreik, Hadath and the Liqi area.
Thick smoke rose above the neighbourhoods after at least three strikes within an hour.
Before the attacks, Israeli military spokesperson Avichay Adraee issued evacuation warnings urging residents to leave areas near what Israel described as Hezbollah infrastructure. The army also ordered civilians in southern Lebanon to move north of the Litani River.
Hezbollah said it responded with missile and drone attacks on Israeli military sites in northern and central Israel.
The group said it targeted the Dado base, headquarters of Israel’s Northern Command near Safed, and struck the Giv’a drone control base east of Safed with a precision-guided missile.
It also claimed that a swarm of drones hit the headquarters of Israel Aerospace Industries in central Israel and that rockets were fired at Israeli forces near the town of Metula.
Civilian fears in Tehran
Inside Iran, civilians say they are bearing the brunt of the fighting.
Reporting from Tehran, Al Jazeera correspondent Mohamed Vall said air strikes on the capital were continuing, with large parts of the population fleeing the city.
“Strikes are continuous,” he said, adding that about three-quarters of Tehran’s residents had reportedly left.
“The authorities here are accusing the Americans and the Israelis of chaotic strikes against the country, a lack of precision and lack of clarity of targets in this campaign.”
Many residents say survival has become their main concern.
“We have nowhere to go to protect ourselves from strikes. How can we protest?” said Farah, a 45-year-old Tehran resident.
“The security forces are everywhere. They will kill us. I hate this regime, but first I have to think about the safety of my two children.”
As the war intensifies, governments across the region have warned that the conflict risks spreading further across the Middle East.
Source: https://www.tbsnews.net/worldbiz/middle-east/us-sending-more-troops-sinks-iranian-warship-1377626
