Days after the US sunk Iranian warship Iris Dena international waters off Sri Lankan coast, Washington is reportedly asking the Sri Lankan government not to repatriate the survivors from the Iranian warship. It has also asked Sri Lanka to not send back the crew of another Iranian ship that is in Sri Lankan custody, Reuters reported, citing an internal State Department cable. Track updates on Iran US conflict
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An Iranian naval vessel was sunk off the coast of Sri Lanka by a US submarine or torpedo on Wednesday, following which the Sri Lankan authorities launched a rescue operation and rescued at least 87 bodies. Thirty two others were rescued as the raging Iran-US conflict intensified sending, sending ripples to South Asia as well.
Sri Lankan authorities on Thursday came to the rescue of another Iranian ship, the naval auxiliary vessel IRIS Booshehr, which was stranded in Sri Lanka’s exclusive economic zone but outside its maritime boundary. Sri Lanka offloaded 208 crew members from the ship as President Anura Kumara Dissanayake said his island nation had a “humanitarian responsibility” to take in the crew.
What US said on repatriation of Iris Dena crew
Jayne Howell, the charge d’affaires at the US embassy in Colombo, had told the Sri Lankan government that neither the Booshehr crew nor the 32 survivors of Iris should be repatriated to Iran, Reuters reported citing an internal State Department cable.
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“Sri Lankan authorities should minimize Iranian attempts to use the detainees for propaganda,” the cable said, the report added. Howell also reportedly told the Israeli ambassador to India and Sri Lanka there was no plan to repatriate the crew to Iran. The envoy asked Howell whether there was any engagement with the crew to encourage “defection”, the cable said.
Iris Dena torpedoing
A US submarine torpedoed and sank the Iranian frigate on Wednesday, with US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth confirming the target. Hegseth told the media that an American submarine sank an Iranian warship, “that thought it was safe in international waters. Instead, it was sunk by a torpedo, a quiet death.”
Sri Lanka’s navy said that it received a distress signal from the ship at 5:08 am on March 4. The Iranian warship had 180 people on board.
Iris Dena was one of the newest warships of Iran. It was a Moudge-class frigate that patrolled deep in the water for the Iranian navy and was armed with heavy guns, missiles and torpedoes.