India Allowed Another Iranian Warship To Dock In Kochi Days Before US Sank IRIS Dena
India allowed an Iranian naval vessel to dock at the port of Kochi after Tehran requested emergency assistance, just days before the United States sank another Iranian warship in the Indian Ocean.
According to government sources, the vessel IRIS Lavan requested urgent docking on 28 February due to technical issues. Indian authorities approved the request on 1 March, and the ship arrived in Kochi on 4 March with 183 crew members on board.
The ship had recently participated in India’s International Fleet Review 2026 and the multinational naval exercise MILAN naval exercise in Visakhapatnam alongside other international naval forces.
The docking occurred on the same day the Iranian frigate IRIS Dena was sunk by a US Navy submarine about 40 nautical miles off Galle, Sri Lanka. The strike killed dozens of sailors, with Sri Lankan authorities recovering 87 bodies and rescuing 32 survivors.
Following the sinking, the Indian Navy deployed ships and maritime patrol aircraft to assist with search-and-rescue operations in coordination with Sri Lankan forces.
Indian officials described the decision to allow IRIS Lavan to dock as a response to a genuine technical emergency and said it was not connected to the wider geopolitical tensions surrounding the US strike.
The episode highlights India’s delicate diplomatic balance as it maintains relations with both Iran and the United States while navigating growing tensions across the Indian Ocean region.
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