Damaged Iranian warship sinks in Bandar Abbas

Iran's Sahand warship finally sank on Tuesday after damage inflicted on the frigate on Sunday sparked speculation of a cyberattack.

The vessel had been briefly repositioned following its initial capsizing in Bandar Abbas but the damage was too great to reverse on the warship equipped with surface-to-surface and surface-to-air missiles, anti-aircraft batteries and sophisticated radar and radar-evading capabilities.

"The Sahand warship, which was rebalanced on the water with great difficulty on Monday, has now sunk after the rope holding the ship broke," reported Nournews, a news agency linked to the Supreme National Security Council.

On Sunday, the official news agency IRNA, announced that the ship "lost its balance due to water ingress". Downplaying the damage, it was hasty in adding that "the vessel is being returned to balance quickly".

Security analysts suggested it could be the work of an Israeli cyberattack amid the ongoing shadow war between the two archenemies.

In 2020, a suspected Israeli hack at Shahid Rajaee port caused days of disruptions and damage, allegedly in retaliation for an attempted Iranian cyber attack on Israel's ports.

Ronen Solomon, an Israeli security analyst, told The Telegraph the incident had “all the elements that could point to a sophisticated operation with a space of denial that suits both sides, Israel and Iran”.

It is the latest mishap to tarnish the Navy's fleet. In January 2018, a naval destroyer, Damavand, sank in the Caspian Sea after crashing into a breakwater and in June 2021 Iran’s largest navy ship at the time, the Kharg, sank after catching fire in the Gulf of Oman.