Iranian warship IRIS Dena sunk by US torpedo; Trump’s Middle East action to continue after Republicans block motion for US Congress vote; Australia repatriation flights continue

Iran’s foreign minister has issued a chilling reaction to the US’s bombing of an Iranian warship in the Indian Ocean, as an ayatollah issues a violent call for retribution.

Eighty-seven crew on board were killed in the attack on Wednesday (AEDT), thousands of kilometres from the Middle East war zone. Sri Lankan authorities said 32 others were rescued.

“Mark my words: The US will come to bitterly regret [the] precedent it has set,” said Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on X.

Later, Iranian state television aired a message on Thursday from an ayatollah in Iran calling for the “shedding” of the blood of Israelis and US President Donald Trump.

The message came from Ayatollah Abdollah Javadi Amoli and represented one of the few clerical statements coming from Iran as it faces a combined airstrike campaign from Israel and the United States.

“We are now on the verge of a great test, and we must be careful to fully preserve this unity, to fully preserve this alliance,” he said in the statement.

He called for “the shedding of Zionist blood, the shedding of Trump’s blood”.

“The Imam of the time says, ‘Fight the oppressive America, his blood is on my shoulders,’” the ayatollah added.