Israel has shot down an Iranian jet over Tehran in a dramatic dogfight, and an Iranian frigate, the IRIS Dena, has been sunk by an American submarine off the coast of Sri Lanka.The sinking of the Iranian warship marks the first sinking of a ship in active combat by a submarine since the famous sinking of the Argentinian cruiser, the General Belgrano, by the British submarine HMS Conqueror during the 1982 Falklands War.The IRIS Dena was reportedly returning from a training exercise near India on Tuesday night when it was spotted and subsequently sunk by a Mk. 48 torpedoes fired by a nearby US sub.The United States Central Command (CENTCOM), who is overseeing US operations in the region, has claimed that the US has sunk or struck at least 20 Iranian vessels since the start of the conflict.There were reportedly 180 people on board the vessel; Sri Lankan authorities have said that 87 bodies have been recovered so far and that 32 sailors have been rescued..In addition to this loss for the Iranian Navy, the IDF has reported that an Israeli F-35 has shot down an Iranian fighter jet in a dogfight over Tehran Wednesday morning. This would make this the first ever air-to-air takedown by an F-35 since its inception. .The jet it shot down was reportedly a Yak-130, a Russian-built jet, marketed as an "advanced jet trainer" but seemingly used by the Iranians in a combat role.These jets have reportedly been used by the Iranians to intercept drones and engage in air-to-air combat; however, up against an F-35, a fifth-generation fighter jet, this dogfight appears to have been quite one-sided.Further developments in the ongoing Middle East conflict include reports that NATO air defences have shot down an Iranian missile reportedly heading for Turkey, and an unexploded Iranian projectile has landed, unexploded, in a field in Eastern Syria.
