Iranian deputy foreign minister Saeed Khatibzadeh has condemned the sinking of an 'unarmed' Iranian warship by the US, calling it an 'existential war' started by Israel and the US.
Khatibzadeh stated that Iran has no option but to resist to the last soldier in the conflict, even as negotiations were still underway.
The warship, IRIS Dena, was returning from a multi-nation exercise hosted by India when it was torpedoed and sunk by a US submarine off the coast of Sri Lanka on Wednesday.
Khatibzadeh claimed the warship was in a non-combat configuration and was 'unarmed', comparing the US actions to those of Nazi Germany.
The incident has resulted in the loss of close to 90 Iranian sailors' lives and has marked a dramatic widening of the conflict between Iran and the US beyond the Persian Gulf.
Khatibzadeh met with Indian external affairs minister S Jaishankar on the margins of the Raisina Dialogue and stated that Iran's priority is 'ultimate resistance against the aggressors'.
