External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Monday told the Parliament that Iran sought permission for docking three ships in Indian ports, claiming that an approval was granted the very next day.
Briefing the Parliament on the ongoing US-Iran conflict, Jaishankar said, “The Iranian side has requested permission on February 28 for three ships in the region to dock at our ports. This was accorded on March 1.”
His remarks came amid criticism of the government’s alleged silence on the sinking of the Iranian frigate IRIS Dena. The frigate was returning from India after participating in MILAN-2026, a multilateral naval exercise hosted by New Delhi in Visakhapatnam, when it was torpedoed by a US submarine near Sri Lanka, killing at least 87 sailors.
The vessel was reportedly “unarmed” as the exercise required it to follow “peace protocol”. The fact that the ship was targeted in the Indian Ocean, which is an area of India’s influence, and that too when it was an Indian guest, prompted massive criticism.
However, the minister set the record straight and said that Iran was granted permission for docking three ships before IRIS Dena’s sinking, but the country actually docked another vessel, IRIS LAVAN, on March 4 in Kochi. The crew members of the Iranian ship are currently residing in Indian naval facilities, he added.
Jaishankar further asserted that India allowed the Iranian ship to dock in its port as it was the “right thing to do”.
“We believe that this was the right thing to do, and the Iranian foreign minister has expressed his country’s thanks for this humane gesture,” he added.