Washington DC [US], March 4 (ANI): United States Secretary of War Pete Hegseth on Wednesday confirmed that a US submarine had sunk the Iranian warship 'IRIS Dena' with a torpedo hit.

'Yesterday, in the Indian Ocean, an American submarine sunk an Iranian warship that thought it was safe in international waters. Instead, it was sunk by a torpedo. Quiet death. The first sinking of an enemy ship by a torpedo since World War II. Like in that war, back when we were still the War Department, we are fighting to win,' Hegseth said.

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Dan Caine called the hit an incredible demonstration of America's global reach

'As the secretary showed the video, for the first time since 1945, a United States Navy fast attack submarine has sunk an enemy combatant ship using a single Mark 48 torpedo to achieve immediate effect, sending the warship to the bottom of the sea. I want to remind everybody that this is an incredible demonstration of America's global reach to hunt, find, and kill an out-of-area deployer is something that only the United States can do at this type of scale,' he said.

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The Department of War also released a video showing the torpedo hit on IRIS Dena.

Earlier, the Sri Lankan Navy said it had rescued 30 sailors from 'IRIS Dena', which was in distress with around 180 sailors onboard, according to Sri Lankan media reports. There was a distress signal from the vessel, approximately 40km (25 miles) off the coast of Sri Lanka in Galle, south of the capital, Colombo.

Sri Lankan Foreign Affairs Minister Vijitha Herath confirmed that the rescued sailors were taken to Karapitiya Hospital for medical attention.

Meanwhile, in DC Pete Hegseth confirmed that more bombers and fighter jets were entering the theatre of war on Wednesday as Operation Epic Fury continues.

'We are just getting started. We are accelerating, not decelerating. Iran's capabilities are evaporating by the hour, while American strength grows fiercer, smarter and utterly dominant. More bombers and more fighters are arriving just today. And now, with complete control of the skies, we will be using 500 pound, thousand pound and 2,000 pound GG and laser guided precision gravity bombs, of which we have a nearly unlimited stockpile,' he said.

'They are toast, and they know it... and we have only just begun to hunt, dismantle, demoralize, destroy, and defeat their capabilities, just four days in. The two most powerful air forces in the world will have complete control of Iranian skies. Uncontested airspace.' 'Iranian leaders, looking up and seeing only U.S. and Israeli air power every minute of every day, until we decide it's over,' he added.

General Dan Caine said the US Military was making steady progress

'As of this morning, CENTCOM is making steady progress. Iran's theatre ballistic missile shots fired are down 86% from the first day of fighting, with a 23% decrease just in the last 24 hours. Their one-way attack drone shots are down 73% from the opening days,' he said.

With the Americans vowing to use more firepower, the conflict in West Asia continues to expand on day 5. (ANI)