The external affairs ministry issued a strongly worded rebuttal after a former US army colonel said in an interview that the US Navy was relying on Indian ports during the ongoing war with Iran.
“Fake News Alert! Claims being made on OAN, a US-based channel, that Indian ports are being used by the US Navy are fake and false. We caution you against such baseless and fabricated comments,” the MEA FactCheck handle said in a post on X.
Separately, the Press Information Bureau said on X, “Claim: On a US-based channel, One America News Network (@OANN), former US Army Colonel Douglas Macgregor made a statement suggesting that the United States is using Indian naval bases to attack Iran, amidst the ongoing Iran-US conflict. This claim is fake.”
The US veteran’s claim came against the backdrop of an American submarine sinking an Iranian warship in international waters off Sri Lanka’s coast. Critics argued that the US ignored India’s sensitivities as the Iranian warship was torpedoed when it was returning after participating in a multilateral naval exercise organised by India last month.
Vessel Identified
Officials said a Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement was signed between the US and India in 2016 for interoperability.However, such logistics support is provided only if India consents on a case-by-case basis, they said, adding that it does not force India into any conflict or automatic involvement.
In a Pentagon briefing on Wednesday, US defence secretary Pete Hegseth said the strike on the warship was the first such American attack since World War II. “An American submarine sunk an Iranian warship that thought it was safe in international waters,” he said. “Instead, it was sunk by a torpedo. Quiet death.”
Sri Lanka’s foreign minister Vijitha Herath identified the Iranian vessel as the IRIS Dena, even as a controversy erupted over the US Navy not picking up survivors.
Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi on Thursday warned the US, writing in a post on X.
“The US has perpetrated an atrocity at sea, 2,000 miles away from Iran’s shores. Frigate Dena, a guest of India’s Navy carrying almost 130 sailors, was struck in international waters without warning.”
