Dishonorable Attack, Inevitable Blowback

Hegseth called sinking of the Iranian ship a ‘win.’ It may lead to Ameican losses.

US military image

Wednesday, March 4, 2026, Istanbul

The Iranian ship IRIS Dana was hundreds of miles away from the war zone. It had just attended a February 15 to 25 International Fleet Review event in India. That’s one of those ceremonies where sailors from different countries convene. They hobnob with each other and show off their patches and gear. They march in parades. Even the US had a presence at the ceremonial affair.

They were probably heading back toward home. They were in international waters, off the coast of Sri Lanka. The ship and its sailors were not poised for warfare. They may not have even been fully armed.

The strike came without warning. A US submarine launched a sneak attack, blowing the ship up. Americans killed most of the crew on board. And in a violation of the decorum of the rules of sea, left the survivors to drown.

“In the Indian Ocean—an American submarine sunk an Iranian warship that thought it was safe in international waters.,” said Secretary of Defense Peter Hegseth. “Instead, it was sunk by a torpedo—quiet death.”

He called it the first US submarine attack on an enemy ship since World War 2.

“Like in that war—back when we were still the War Department—we are fighting to win,” he said.

Neither the US nor Iran have declared “war.” The ship was on a diplomatic mission. The US military could have captured the ship. It could have convinced the sailors to defect, pressed them for intel, or held them as leverage. Instead it killed at least 100 mostly young men. Only 32 out of 180 crew aboard have been rescued. They were fathers, brothers, sons. Some weren’t even fighters. They were musicians for the Iranian Navy band.

Crew members aboard the IRIS Dena included band members who performed during a parade held in Visakhapatnam, in eastern India last month.

It had to be one of the cruelest and most outrageous acts of the war so far. It was even uglier than the bombing of the Shajareh Tayyebeh girls’ elementary school in Minab on the first day of the war. That horrific attack, now under investigation by the US military, was likely accidental.

“Hegseth gloating about slaughtering 150 Iranian sailors, without warning, 2,000 miles from Iran, makes me nauseous,” said Ami Dar, the founder of Idealist.org. “These were human beings. With mothers and children. Yes, war sucks. But killing for the sake of killing is wrong. And the gloating is despicable.”

The contempt for human is typical for the US miltiary under the Trump administration. Officials exude the same gleeful blood-lust after sneak attacks on alleged Venezuelan drug runners. Just as in the Carriberan, the US navy offered no warning shot. There was no attempt to board and no apparent to ascertain the intentions of the IRIS Dena.

US officials have sought to justify the attack. The US has cited the destruction of Iran’s navy as one of its ever-shifting war goals. The 2021-built vessel was a sophisticated warship equipped with modern radar and submarine detectors. Just as the US attack came with no warning, Iran failed to alert Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain before its attacks on infrastructure in the Arabian Peninsula.

International law is somewhat murky on the justification for the attack, and I am no military law expert. According to the Newport Rules of Engagement Handbook, the law of armed conflict “forbids the intentional destruction or seizure of the enemy’s property unless such destruction or seizure is imperatively demanded by the necessities of war.” It adds that attacks must be proportional and minimize suffering,

“Honor demands a certain mutual respect between opposing military forces,” says the handbook, which is issued by the US Naval War College.

I doubt Hegseth cares about honor. The Fox News loudmouth is a slimy anti-Muslim bigot and a drunk. But the attack was also a major tactical mistake. President Donald Trump has vowed to use US Navy ships to escort tankers through the Strait of Hormuz, to shield them from Iran.

If Iran decides to launch any of its still plentiful anti-ship cruise missiles at those American warships, Tehran can claim the moral high ground. This cruel, rash act imperils every US Navy warship and sailor in international waters and at every port in the world.

(Please excuse typos.)