Two Iranian sailors, middle, who have been rescued from IRIS Dena warship by Sri Lanka’s navy are escorted to a Judicial Medical Officer from the Nationwide Hospital, in Galle, Sri Lanka, Thursday, March 5, 2026. (AP Picture/Eranga Jayawardena)
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COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — Sri Lanka transferred greater than 200 sailors from an Iranian naval vessel to shore Friday after it sought help whereas anchored exterior the nation’s waters, as tensions mounted within the Indian Ocean following the sinking of an Iranian warship by a U.S. submarine.
Sri Lankan navy spokesperson Cmdr. Buddhika Sampath stated 204 sailors of the IRIS Bushehr have been dropped at Welisara Naval Base close to the capital, Colombo. They underwent border management procedures and medical assessments, however none have been discovered to have well being points.
About 15 others have been left aboard the ship with Sri Lankan naval personnel for help as a result of they’d reported a fault with the ship. The Iranian sailors are deciphering operational directions, manuals and logs for his or her Sri Lankan counterparts. He stated the ship will likely be taken to the port of Trincomalee in japanese Sri Lanka, and stay in Sri Lankan custody till additional discover.
Iranian ship was collaborating in naval workouts
The Sri Lankan authorities took custody of the Bushehr after the U.S. sank an Iranian warship, the IRIS Dena, off Sri Lanka’s coast Wednesday. The strike marked one of many uncommon situations since World Conflict II wherein a submarine sank a floor warship, and highlighted the increasing scope of the U.S.-Israeli army marketing campaign towards Iran.
The Dena had participated in naval workouts hosted by India earlier than heading into worldwide waters on its method house. At the least 74 nations had joined the occasions, in line with India’s Protection Ministry, together with the U.S. Navy, which performed reconnaissance plane and maritime patrol drills.
The Indian navy obtained a misery sign from the Dena however by the point it launched a search and rescue operation, the Sri Lankan navy had already begun its personal rescue efforts, the ministry stated.
The Sri Lankan navy rescued 32 sailors and recovered 87 our bodies.
Iran’s Overseas Minister Abbas Araghchi stated the Dena had been carrying “almost 130” crew. The conventional crew measurement for a warship of that class is 140. Araghchi known as the sinking an “atrocity at sea” and stated the US would “bitterly regret” the assault.
Sri Lanka says it acted beneath worldwide regulation
Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake stated late Thursday that authorities determined to take management of the IRIS Bushehr after discussions with Iranian officers and the ship’s captain, after one in every of its engines failed.
“We have to understand that this is not an ordinary situation. It’s a request by a ship belonging to one party to enter into our port. We have to consider that according to the international treaties and conventions,” he instructed journalists Thursday evening.
Individually on Friday, he wrote on X: “No civilian should die in wars. Our approach is that every single life is as precious as our own.”
The IRIS Bushehr had been described in earlier Iranian media stories as a navy logistics ship outfitted with a helicopter pad.
Dissanayake stated Sri Lanka was guided by neutrality whereas in search of to uphold humanitarian ideas.
“We have followed a very clear stance. We will not be biased to any state nor we will be submissive to any state,” he stated.
Iranian warship IRIS Dena is seen within the Bay of Bengal throughout Worldwide Fleet Overview held at Visakhapatnam, India, Feb. 18, 2026. (AP Picture)
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Sri Lanka’s neutrality is examined
The broadening Center East battle is placing strategically positioned Sri Lanka in a fragile place because it tries to steadiness humanitarian obligations, worldwide maritime regulation and its longstanding coverage of non-alignment.
H.M.G.S. Palihakkara, Sri Lanka’s retired former overseas secretary who additionally served as its everlasting consultant to the United Nations, stated the nation had acted responsibly and impartially.
“There has been a distress call from the ship. So naturally Sri Lanka, as a party to the Law of Sea and The Hague Convention, had no option but to do what it did by mounting a humanitarian operation to provide assistance to save lives and provide medical care to the affected,” he stated.
Palihakkara stated events to the battle would perceive that Sri Lanka was not taking sides.
“You could not have ignored the distress call. Even the attacking powers cannot leave shipwrecked sailors dying. That is the law,” Palihakkara stated.
Katsuya Yamamoto, director of the Technique and Deterrence Program on the Sasakawa Peace Basis in Tokyo, stated Sri Lanka, which isn’t at struggle with both the U.S. or Iran, is taken into account a impartial state. As such, the Bushehr can enter a Sri Lankan port if granted permission by the federal government, he stated.
Yamamoto stated that when the vessel is docked, it falls beneath Iranian jurisdiction, leaving Sri Lankan authorities with out authorized grounds to examine it until Colombo decides to aspect with the U.S.
The U.N. resident coordinator in Sri Lanka, Marc-André Franche, welcomed Sri Lanka’s intervention, saying on X that it mirrored its dedication to “multilateralism, maintaining neutrality, and underscoring its dedication to peace.”
Australians aboard submarine
Australia’s authorities confirmed on Friday that three Australians have been aboard the submarine that sank the IRIS Dena. The Australians have been there as a part of the trilateral U.S., Australian and British coaching program beneath the AUKUS safety pact.
The Australian authorities has maintained it was not warned that the usand Israel deliberate to assault Iran. Australia has not commented on the legality of the assault, however helps the target of stopping Iran from gaining nuclear weapons.
Neil James, government director of the Australian Protection Affiliation coverage suppose tank, stated it’s “reasonably rare” for Australians embedded with one other nation’s army to go to struggle towards a rustic corresponding to Iran that Australia wasn’t at struggle with.
He stated an Australian wouldn’t have fired the torpedo that sank the Iranian ship
“The Australians wouldn’t have a job where they had to push the button on the torpedo because the captain of the boat gives the order and someone else, perhaps the weapons officer, presses the button but they’re not going to be Australian,” James stated.
