Sri Lanka has facilitated the return of 238 Iranian sailors who were stranded in the country following the torpedo attack on one of their warships by a US submarine. Deputy Defence Minister Aruna Jayasekara confirmed that 32 sailors rescued from the IRIS Dena, which was attacked on March 4 near Sri Lanka, along with 206 sailors from the IRIS Bushehr, departed on Tuesday.
Jayasekara noted that while most of the sailors returned home on a chartered flight, a small number from the IRIS Bushehr remain in Sri Lanka to operate the vessel. Official sources revealed that 15 Iranian sailors will stay behind to manage the IRIS Bushehr, currently anchored off Trincomalee in the northeast of the island.
The attack on the IRIS Dena marked a significant escalation of the Middle East conflict into the Indian Ocean region, resulting in the deaths of 104 sailors during the early phase of the US and Israeli military actions against Iran, Iranian authorities. The bodies of 84 victims were recovered and have been sent back to Iran.
Last month, Iran’s ambassador to Sri Lanka, Alireza Delkhosh, indicated ongoing discussions with Colombo regarding the repatriation of sailors from the IRIS Bushehr, which had been granted safe harbor in Sri Lanka after the sinking of the IRIS Dena. Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake emphasized that the island nation provided protection to the Bushehr crew on humanitarian grounds, in accordance with the 1907 Hague Convention.
However, the exact legal basis for allowing the departure of sailors from the second Iranian vessel remains unclear. Sri Lanka has maintained its neutrality by denying US warplanes access to its ground facilities.
Meanwhile, a third Iranian ship, the IRIS Lavan, carrying 183 crew members, sought refuge at India’s Kochi port in early March. Since then, over 100 non-essential crew members from the IRIS Lavan have left India.
