IRIS Lavan at Kochi: India’s Iranian Warship Decision Explained

To understand how an Iranian warship ended up sheltering at Kochi, the story begins with India’s twin maritime events of February 2026.

International Fleet Review (IFR-2026) was held off Visakhapatnam from February 15–18, 2026. President Droupadi Murmu reviewed the fleet on February 18 — the first IFR in India since 2016. Over 50 countries sent warships, including both Iran and the United States — a rare diplomatic feat that placed adversaries at the same maritime table.

MILAN 2026 ran alongside IFR as India’s biennial multilateral naval exercise, involving naval forces from over 30 countries. MILAN was first held in 1995 at Port Blair, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and has grown into one of the largest multilateral naval exercises in the Indo-Pacific.

Iran sent three ships: IRIS Dena (Moudge-class frigate), IRIS Bushehr (fleet support ship), and IRIS Lavan (Hengam-class landing ship). The IRIS Lavan and IRIS Bushehr also visited Mumbai from February 25–28 for a goodwill visit, carrying approximately 220 officer cadets on an Indian Ocean training mission. Then, on February 28, everything changed.

On February 28, 2026, the United States and Israel launched Operation Epic Fury — simultaneous strikes on Iranian military infrastructure, the Supreme Leader’s compound, and IRGC command nodes in Tehran. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in the first wave. Iran retaliated with ballistic missiles and drones against Israel and US naval assets in the Persian Gulf.

For the three Iranian ships in the Indian Ocean, the outbreak of war was devastating. They were thousands of kilometres from home, in contested waters, with US naval forces operating in the same region. On the same day, Iran urgently approached New Delhi: IRIS Lavan had developed serious technical problems and needed emergency docking. India approved the request within 24 hours, on March 1.

March 4, 2026 was the most consequential single day for India’s Indian Ocean position since the war began — two events, separated by hundreds of nautical miles, defined India’s dilemma in stark terms.

IRIS Lavan docks at Kochi. The Hengam-class landing ship arrived at Kochi port. Its 183 crew members — including many young naval cadets — were accommodated at Indian Navy facilities. India’s Western Naval Command, headquartered in Mumbai, managed the operation.

IRIS Dena sunk south of Sri Lanka. A US submarine fired a MK-48 heavyweight torpedo at the Iranian frigate IRIS Dena approximately 20 nautical miles west of Galle, off Sri Lanka’s southern coast. More than 80 Iranian sailors were killed. Defence analysts described it as the first US submarine torpedo attack on a warship since World War II — a major threshold in modern naval history. Iranian FM Abbas Araghchi called it a “war crime,” noting IRIS Dena had been India’s guest at MILAN.

IRIS Bushehr interned at Trincomalee. Sri Lanka interned the third ship at Trincomalee. Sri Lanka cared for 32 survivors from IRIS Dena under international treaty obligations, and Iran requested repatriation of the 84 killed.

Ship classifications are exam-relevant — understanding what each vessel type does helps contextualise the strategic significance.

External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar addressed the IRIS Lavan decision on March 7 at the Raisina Dialogue — India’s flagship annual geopolitical conference, jointly organised by the Ministry of External Affairs and the Observer Research Foundation (ORF) in New Delhi. Named after Raisina Hill — the seat of the President’s estate and the Indian government — the dialogue is India’s most prominent platform for foreign policy discourse.

Jaishankar confirmed that Iran had requested permission for ships to dock on February 28, and that India accorded approval on March 1. He described it as a humanitarian decision — 183 crew members, including young naval cadets, needed safe harbour. In Parliament, he formally confirmed the sequence of events and emphasised that the docking request predated the torpedo strike on IRIS Dena.

The Indian Navy separately confirmed that INS Tarangini and INS Ikshak were deployed from Kochi to assist Sri Lanka’s search-and-rescue operations for IRIS Dena survivors — and rejected any suggestion that India had provided intelligence to the US ahead of the torpedo strike.

The IRIS Lavan episode is a concentrated demonstration of India’s foreign policy under pressure. Three tensions are in play simultaneously:

• Humanitarian obligation: A ship India had itself invited as a guest to IFR/MILAN was now in distress. Refusing shelter would have damaged India’s credibility as a responsible Indian Ocean power under UNCLOS.
• Strategic interests in Iran: India imports ~58% of its crude oil from the Middle East. Around 8 million Indian workers in GCC countries send remittances home. India’s Chabahar Port investment and the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC) — linking India to Russia via Iran — are strategic infrastructure assets directly threatened by the war.
• US pressure: Washington has been pressing India to align with the US-Israel position. The February 2026 Interim Trade Agreement, under which India committed to winding down Russian oil purchases, reflected US pressure. Sheltering an Iranian vessel while the US destroys Iran’s navy is a visible stress test of strategic autonomy.

Jaishankar’s framing — “the humane thing to do” — navigates this by placing the decision under humanitarian law rather than alliance politics. The 183 naval cadets are difficult to argue against. India has bought space without making a geopolitical declaration.