Albanese confirms three Australian personnel on US sub that sank Iranian warship
Three Australians were aboard a United States submarine that sank an Iranian warship off the coast of Sri Lanka on Wednesday.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese confirmed the trio – two believed to be sailors – were onboard the sub that fired a torpedo at the frigate IRIS Dena, which killed more than 80 soldiers.
About 60 Iranian sailors were unaccounted for.
We wouldn’t normally confirm such an issue,’ Albanese told Sky News on Friday.
‘Given our NSC meetings and the public interest, I can confirm that there were three Australian personnel on board that vessel. I can confirm also, though, that no Australian personal have participated in any offensive action against Iran.’
9News reported on Thursday that two Australians were on the submarine as part of the AUKUS training rotation.
The Department of Defence later refused to identify their rank or role onboard.
It’s understood up to 100 Australians are expected to be deployed on US submarines as part of the AUKUS program this year.
More to come.
Three Australians were aboard a US submarine that torpedoed an Iranian warship this week
But Albanese said no Australian personnel have participated in offensive action against Iran
