Sri Lanka has evacuated 208 crew members from an Iranian navy vessel that made an emergency request to dock, a day after a US submarine strike sank another Iranian frigate, killing more than 80 people on board. President Anura Kumara Dissanayake confirmed on Thursday that the country's navy would take over the Iranian military support ship IRIS Bushehr and allow it to dock at the north-eastern port of Trincomalee.
The Iranian vessel had requested permission from the Sri Lankan navy to come into port, citing engine issues. The call came a day after a US torpedo destroyed IRIS Dena, an Iranian warship, on Tuesday night as it headed back home after taking part in a military training exercise in India. The attack quickly sank the vessel and killed at least 84 sailors.
Dissanayake said his government had discussed the docking of the second ship directly with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi. “We are not taking sides in this conflict, but while maintaining our neutrality we are taking action to save lives,” Dissanayake said in a televised statement on Thursday. “No person should die in a war like this. Every life is equally precious.”
The Iranian sailors and cadets on board the Bushehr were brought ashore and transferred to a naval base near the capital of Colombo. Dissanayake emphasised that the actions taken by Sri Lanka were not taken “in a biased manner towards any state, nor do we submit to any state”.
The targeting of Dena marked an escalation of the US-Israeli assault on Iran, which began over the weekend. US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth described Dena as a “prize ship”, adding: “It was sunk by a torpedo, a quiet death.” Iran's Foreign Minister Araghchi said the US would “bitterly regret” the attack, calling it “an atrocity at sea”.
The Sri Lankan navy and coastguard responded to a distress call from the Dena in the early hours of Wednesday morning, but by the time they arrived, the vessel had sunk and only an oil slick remained, with survivors clinging to life rafts. The rescue operation for missing sailors continued on Thursday, with several more bodies reportedly retrieved from the sea. Hospital staff in Galle said the morgue was overwhelmed, and authorities were rushing to set up refrigerated shipping containers to preserve bodies until legal formalities were completed.
