Iran War Widens From Indian Ocean to Gulf as Sri Lanka Handles Iranian Vessel and Missile Strikes Spread

The widening war between the United States, Israel and Iran has continued to expand across multiple theatres on Friday, with Sri Lanka taking control of an Iranian naval vessel near its waters after the sinking of another warship, Israel launching new strikes across Iran and Lebanon, and Iran retaliating with missile and drone attacks targeting several Gulf states that host U.S. forces. 

File Photo: Global Times

The developments show that the conflict, now stretching from the Persian Gulf to the Indian Ocean, has evolved into a broader regional confrontation involving naval incidents, cross-border airstrikes, leadership upheaval in Tehran and growing international evacuation efforts as governments scramble to move citizens out of the region.

Sri Lanka on Friday began transferring more than 200 sailors from an Iranian naval vessel anchored outside its territorial waters after the ship sought assistance following the sinking of another Iranian warship by a U.S. submarine earlier this week, and drew the Indian Ocean directly into the widening Iran war. 

Sri Lankan navy spokesperson Buddhika Sampath said the crew of the vessel IRIS Bushehr were being brought ashore at Colombo port under a humanitarian arrangement and would later be taken to the naval base at Welisara, about 20 kilometres north of the capital, for medical checks and immigration procedures, while the ship itself is expected to be moved to the eastern harbour of Trincomalee. 

The move comes days after the Iranian frigate IRIS Dena was torpedoed and sunk off Sri Lanka’s southern coast, an incident that heightened tensions in waters close to the island and placed Colombo in a delicate neutrality position as the conflict expands beyond the Middle East.

At the same time, Israel has intensified its air campaign overnight with what the Israel Defense Forces described as a broad wave of strikes targeting Hezbollah infrastructure in Lebanon and Iranian military facilities. 

Israeli forces said they struck 26 targets in Beirut’s southern Dahieh district, including command centres and facilities used to store unmanned aerial vehicles, after earlier evacuation warnings prompted large-scale civilian flight from the densely populated suburbs. 

Lebanese authorities said at least 123 people have been killed and more than 680 wounded since the latest round of fighting began earlier in the week when Hezbollah launched rockets into northern Israel. Israel also carried out fresh strikes inside Iran, with explosions reported around Tehran and the western city of Kermanshah, where several missile bases are located, as the campaign against Iranian military infrastructure continued.

Iran has responded by widening its retaliatory attacks across the Gulf region, launching missile and drone strikes toward Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, all countries that host U.S. military installations, though there were no immediate reports of casualties. 

Iranian state television also reported that the country’s leadership council had met to discuss arrangements for convening the Assembly of Experts, the powerful clerical body responsible for choosing Iran’s next supreme leader following the death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during the opening phase of the war. 

The council includes President Masoud Pezeshkian, judiciary chief Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejehi and cleric Ayatollah Ali Reza Arafi, and officials said the assembly has been meeting virtually after Israeli strikes damaged its compound in the city of Qom. Meanwhile, President Trump told Axios in an interview that he needs to be personally involved in selecting Iran's next leader — just as he was in Venezuela.

Governments around the world have accelerated efforts to evacuate citizens from the region amid continued airspace disruptions caused by missile and drone activity. Britain confirmed that its first government-chartered flight carrying nationals from Oman arrived in London overnight, part of a broader operation after more than 140,000 British citizens registered their presence in the Middle East. 

France also attempted to operate a charter evacuation flight from the United Arab Emirates but the aircraft was forced to turn back due to missile activity in the area. 

Meanwhile, U.S. President Donald Trump dismissed Iranian warnings that a potential ground invasion by American and Israeli forces would be disastrous, saying Iran had already lost much of its military capability, while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Kyiv would help the United States and its partners counter Iranian Shahed drones by providing equipment and technical expertise developed during Ukraine’s war with Russia.