“The Sahand
warship, which was rebalanced on the water with great difficulty on
Monday, has now sunk after the rope holding the ship broke,” said Nournews, a
news agency affiliated to the Supreme National Security Council.
On Sunday, state media said the ship
had capsized during repairs at a wharf due to water ingress and that
efforts were being made to rebalance it.
The Iranian-built
stealth warship was first launched in 2018 and is equipped with a
flight deck for helicopters, torpedo launchers, anti-aircraft and anti-ship
guns, surface-to-surface and surface-to-air missiles and electronic warfare
capabilities according to local media. Iran
has developed a large domestic arms industry in the face of international
sanctions and embargoes that have barred it from importing many weapons.
It launched its first
locally made destroyer in 2010 as part of a program to revamp its navy
equipment, which dates from before the 1979 Islamic revolution and is mostly
U.S.-made.