Gulf of Oman — The world’s navies are on edge after a U.S. nuclear‑powered attack submarine sank an Iranian warship with a torpedo, in what officials say is the first deliberate U.S. torpedo strike on an enemy surface vessel since World War II.

According to defence sources, the incident began when the Iranian warship closed aggressively on a U.S. carrier strike group, ignoring repeated radio warnings and allegedly locking its fire‑control radar on an American destroyer. Silent beneath the waves, the U.S. submarine had been shadowing the vessel for hours, tracking every turn. When the radar lock was confirmed and the ship reportedly trained its missiles toward the formation, the sub’s captain received the order he had drilled for but never expected to hear: “Fire one.”

A heavyweight torpedo streaked toward the target, detonating beneath the hull in a catastrophic under‑keel blast. Witnesses on nearby ships saw the Iranian vessel lift from the water, break, and vanish in a cloud of smoke and spray, leaving burning debris and oil slicks scattered across the surface. Rescue efforts recovered some survivors, but Tehran has already declared “dozens of martyrs” and vowed revenge.

In Washington, the Pentagon insists the strike was “clear self‑defense in international waters,” while in Tehran, hardliners call it “an act of war that will not go unanswered.” Naval analysts warn that by crossing the psychological threshold of a modern torpedo kill at sea, both sides have entered a far more dangerous era — one in which every close encounter on the water could be the spark for the next, even deadlier exchange.