The combo photo shows file image of the IRIS Dena (L), and frame grab from a video released by the US Department of War
PressTV – Oct 1, 2026
The head of Iran’s Center for Lawyers of the Judiciary says an audio recording of the final communications involving the Iranian destroyer Dena before a US attack off the coast of Sri Lanka shows the crew stating that they were unarmed and on a training mission.
Hassan Abdollianpour said on Wednesday that the audio includes final exchanges between the Dena, a US naval vessel and Sri Lanka’s shipping and ports authorities.
“In this conversation, it is stated that ‘we are not military, we are not armed and we have come for training,’ and the Sri Lankan side also confirms this,” he added.
He stressed the importance of getting access to the final communications of the Dena in order to prepare an accurate legal case and appropriate defense regarding the criminal attack.
He noted that the recordings were obtained following extensive efforts and have also been used in a documentary.
Iran pursuing legal action over deadly US attack on Navy personnel: Commanderhttps://t.co/rjtNxQUlSB
— Press TV (@PressTV) July 21, 2026
Under international law, Abdolianpour explained, assistance should have been provided to the personnel aboard the vessel even if it had been targeted.
“Not only was no assistance provided, but a second attack was also carried out,” he said.
The Dena, a Moudge-class frigate, was torpedoed and sunk by the US Navy submarine USS Charlotte in international waters off the coast of Galle, Sri Lanka, on March 4.
The vessel was returning home after participating in the International Fleet Review 2026 naval exercise hosted by India — a multinational gathering to which Iran had been officially invited.
The frigate was approximately 19 nautical miles off the coast of Galle, Sri Lanka, when it was struck by a Mark 48 torpedo fired from the US Navy’s Los Angeles-class submarine USS Charlotte.
The vessel was unarmed at the time, with 136 crew members on board, 104 of whom were martyred and 32 injured.
Speaking at a ceremony in the northern province of Gilan last week, Abdolianpour said the case concerning the martyrs of the Dena is being pursued “firmly and decisively.”
He noted that the Center for Lawyers of the Judiciary has compiled extensive documentation for use in both domestic and international legal proceedings.
According to the official, around 130,000 pages of expert assessments related to war incidents and damages have been prepared with the cooperation of nearly 19,000 experts.
Abdolianpour noted that such efforts were not intended solely for use in domestic courts, but were also aimed at providing standardized evidence for pursuing the matter before international courts and legal bodies.
Back in March, Chief of Iran’s Judiciary Gholamhossein Mohseni-Eje’i denounced the US Navy’s deadly attack on the Dena destroyer as a violation of all international conventions, particularly those governing international maritime law.
He emphasized that Iran will “certainly and seriously” prosecute the criminal US regime for the “outrageous crimes,” particularly the martyrdom of Iranian sailors far away from their homeland.
“we are unarmed” recorded conversation.
Frankly I am not sure who is more vile and treacherous, the Israelis or the Americans.
Yes, Israelis protagonized the US Liberty warship incident, but that ship must have been armed and there was US complicity.
To make things worse, the Americans didn’t rescue the drowning survivors of the attacked Dena.
And they keep pontificating about evil nazis who rescued the tripulations of the ships they sunk, as long as it was possible for them to do that, because the all-lies as soon as they learned of that evil humanitarian deed began rushing to the scene to take advantage of the vulnerable occasion and attack the Germans, and to hell with their own people, if they happened to survive the treacherous attack they were left alone to die for propaganda purposes.
Proud to be American? British? Etc? Shame on them all!
What hypocrites, their own countrymen!
My dog groomer’s aunt says it actually went like this:
“We’re not armed!”
“We don’t believe you…”
“But we’re the greatest something there ever was!”
“We don’t believe that either.” … “You over there! Push the big red button…”
“Under international law, Abdolianpour explained, assistance should have been provided to the personnel aboard the vessel even if it had been targeted. ‘Not only was no assistance provided, but a second attack was also carried out,’” … How very Jewish of the jewnited states, to disregard international law and decency and continue to attack a sinking ship and drowning men. Reminds me of the USS Liberty, when Mordor, the special friend of the Jew-S-A, strafed, bombed, and fire-bombed the vessel and crew knowing damn well what cuntry the ship and crew were from and disregarded identification broadcasts as they continued to try to set the crew on fire or aerate them with lead projectiles.
An unarmed ship is low-hanging fruit for those intent on a cowardly attack. The USN has not covered itself in glory here.
Its called WAR for a reason. You don’t Call up the Enemy and make sure his Ship has stuff to shoot back at you with before you put it down morons.
We have nothing but fucking retards in charge and nobody is Accountable anymore.
any enemy dont needs to believe that an
oponent is unarmed . a destroyer is no
passenger ship + has to take in account to
be shot at . a gunman cannot claim afterward
he had no amunition in his gun , so the police
shot him . thats the law of engagement .