'Cowardly and Despicable': Hegseth Condemned for Sinking of 'Defenseless' Iranian Ship [View all]

"US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Thursday was condemned for his boasts on Wednesday about sinking an Iranian military ship after allegations emerged that it was 'defenseless' at the time it was torpedoed in international waters by a US submarine."

"Military.com reported Thursday that the Iranian ship had been departing from a biennial multinational naval training exercise that it had been invited to participate in by the Indian government."

"In a social media post, former Indian Foreign Secretary Kanwal Sibal said there was no way that the Iranian ship could have been perceived as any kind of military threat."

“ 'I am told that as per protocol for this exercise ships cannot carry any ammunition,' he wrote. 'It was defenseless... The attack by the US submarine was premeditated as the US was aware of the Iranian ship’s presence in the exercise to which the US navy was invited but withdrew from participation at the last minute, presumably with this operation in mind.' "

"Drop Site News reporter Ryan Grim noted that, in addition to striking what appears to have been a defenseless boat, the US also didn’t help rescue any of the shipwrecked men who were aboard the vessel."

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