‘We are not armed’: Final Dena communication before US attack revealed

The head of Iran’s Center for Lawyers of the Judiciary, Hassan Abdollianpour, says an audio recording of the final communications involving the Iranian destroyer Dena before it was attacked by the United States shows that the crew said the vessel was unarmed and on a training mission.

Abdollianpour said on Wednesday that the recording contains final exchanges between the Dena, a US naval vessel and Sri Lanka’s shipping and ports authorities.

“In this conversation, it is stated that ‘we are not military, we are not armed and we have come for training,’ and the Sri Lankan side also confirms this,” he said.

He stressed that access to the final communications was important for preparing an accurate legal case and defense over what Iran describes as a criminal attack.

Abdollianpour said the recordings were obtained after extensive efforts and were also used in a documentary.

He said that under international law, assistance should have been provided to the people on board even if the vessel had been targeted.

“Not only was no assistance provided, but a second attack was also carried out,” he said.

The Dena, a Moudge-class frigate, was torpedoed and sunk by the US Navy submarine USS Charlotte in international waters off the coast of Galle, Sri Lanka, on March 4.

The vessel was returning to Iran after taking part in the International Fleet Review 2026 naval exercise hosted by India. Iran had been officially invited to the multinational event.

The frigate was around 19 nautical miles off the coast of Galle when it was struck by a Mark 48 torpedo fired from the USS Charlotte.

Iran says the vessel was unarmed at the time and had 136 crew members on board. According to Iranian officials, 104 crew members were martyred and 32 were injured.

Speaking at a ceremony in Gilan province last week, Abdollianpour said the case involving the Dena martyrs was being pursued “firmly and decisively.”

He said the Center for Lawyers of the Judiciary had collected extensive documents for use in domestic and international legal proceedings.

According to the official, around 130,000 pages of expert assessments related to war incidents and damages had been prepared with the cooperation of nearly 19,000 experts.

Abdollianpour said the documentation was not being prepared only for domestic courts but also to provide evidence for possible proceedings before international courts and legal bodies.

In March, Chief of Iran’s Judiciary Gholamhossein Mohseni-Eje’i condemned the US Navy’s attack on the Dena, calling it a violation of international conventions, particularly those related to international maritime law.

He said Iran would “certainly and seriously” prosecute the US regime over what he called “outrageous crimes,” particularly the martyrdom of Iranian sailors far from their homeland.