An Iranian warship capsized while undergoing port repairs, resulting in the death of two officers and injuries to several others.

State media reported that the navy's Sahand destroyer sank in the southern port of Bandar Abbas near the Strait of Hormuz.

The official news agency IRNA, citing a navy statement, said, “As Sahand was being repaired at the wharf, it lost its balance due to water ingress. Fortunately, the vessel is being returned to balance quickly.”

Named after a mountain in northern Iran, the Sahand took six years to build and was launched into the Persian Gulf in December 2018. The Sahand warship is part of Iran's Southern Fleet. In 2021, the US launched a significant effort to prevent it from docking anywhere in the Western Hemisphere, sparking controversy.

The ship was suspected of conducting a weapons transfer en route to Venezuela. Eventually, it changed course and headed towards the West Coast of Africa. The 1,300-ton vessel was equipped with surface-to-surface and surface-to-air missiles, anti-aircraft batteries, and advanced radar systems designed for radar-evading capabilities.

The Sahand was preparing for an anti-piracy operation in the Indian Ocean when it experienced flooding while docked in the harbour.

Recently, the Sahand had been deployed in response to ongoing attacks by the Iranian-backed proxy organization, the Houthis, in the Red Sea. It led a small fleet of Iranian ships in the region during attacks on Western and Israeli vessels in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.

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