Crisis at sea: Iran thanks India as naval vessel IRIS Lavan docks at Kochi

The development comes days after a United States submarine allegedly torpedoed and sank the Iranian frigate IRIS Dena near Sri Lankan waters, killing 87 sailors and escalating tensions amid the ongoing Middle East crisis.

Iran’s Ambassador to India, Mohammad Fathali, told ANI that the Islamic Republic is closely monitoring the situation following the tragic incident involving IRIS Dena and is continuing efforts to assess the circumstances and ensure the well-being of the crew members.

“Following the tragic incident involving the Iranian naval vessel IRIS Dena in the waters of the Indian Ocean, the Islamic Republic of Iran is continuing to follow up on the situation of the crew members and to examine the different aspects of this incident,” the envoy said.

“In this context, another Iranian naval vessel, IRIS Lavan, has docked at the port of Kochi in India to carry out technical and logistical arrangements,” he added.

“I would like to take this opportunity to sincerely thank the Government of India and the local authorities for their cooperation and humanitarian approach in facilitating the docking of this vessel and supporting its crew,” Fathali said.

Commenting on the development, India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar said Indian authorities allowed the Iranian vessel to dock at Kochi on March 4 as a humanitarian gesture.

Speaking at the Raisina Dialogue 2026 in New Delhi, Jaishankar said the request came from the Iranian side after the ship reported difficulties while sailing close to Indian waters.

“Here's the situation. We got a message from the Iranian side that one of the ships, which presumably was closest to our borders at that point of time, wanted to come into our port. They were reporting that they were having problems,” he said, according to NDTV.

“On March 1, we said you can come in. It took them a few days to sail in and then they docked in Kochi. There were a lot of young cadets. When the ships had set out and when they came here, the situation was totally different,” he added.

Jaishankar noted that the vessels had originally set out to participate in a fleet review but were caught in the middle of rapidly evolving geopolitical developments.

“They were coming in for a fleet review and then they got, in a way, caught on the wrong side of events. One obviously had a similar situation in Sri Lanka; they took the decision which they did and one of them unfortunately didn’t make it,” he said.

“We approached the situation from the point of view of humanity, other than whatever the legal issues were, and I think we did the right thing,” he added.

The Iranian vessels IRIS Dena, IRIS Lavan and IRIS Bushehr were operating in the Indian Ocean and had participated in the International Fleet Review and MILAN 2026 exercises.

The events were hosted by the Indian Navy in Visakhapatnam last month.