Sri Lanka evacuates crew from Iranian navy vessel days after warship was destroyed by US

Original article by Hannah Ellis-Petersen in Delhi and Aanya Wipulasena in Galle

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.

Sri Lanka’s president, Anura Kumara Dissanayake, on Thursday confirmed that the country’s navy would take over Iranian military support ship IRIS Bushehr and allow it to dock at the north-eastern port of Trincomalee.

The Iranian military 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.

The Sri Lankan government had spent hours deliberating the request made by the second Iran military ship amid fears it could be the target of another attack.

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.

In a lengthy written statement, Dissanayake confirmed that Iran had sought permission last week for three of its vessels to enter Sri Lankan ports from the 9 March for a four-day period. However, deliberations of the request had still been ongoing when the US struck Dena.

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. The US defence secretary, Pete Hegseth, described Dena as a “prize ship”, adding: “It was sunk by a torpedo, a quiet death.” The Pentagon released black-and-white footage of the strike, showing a heavyweight torpedo blasted into the frigate from a submarine.

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In the first Iranian response to the ship’s sinking, Iran’s foreign minister, Araghchi, said the US would “bitterly regret” the attack. “The US has perpetrated an atrocity at sea, 2,000 miles away from Iran’s shores,” he wrote on X. “Frigate Dena, a guest of India’s navy, carrying almost 130 sailors, was struck in international waters without warning.”

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 there was only an oil slick remaining, with survivors clinging to life rafts.

The navy’s rescue operation for missing sailors from the frigate continued on Thursday, with several more bodies reportedly retrieved from the sea.

Military and police security remained tight at the main hospital in Galle, where 32 rescued Iranians were being treated. Most survivors were reported to have minor burns and fractures.

GK Malani, 70, a lottery ticket seller in Galle, said there was a lot of fear locally after the incident. “There were so many bodies brought in,” she said. “Everyone is very scared about the attack.”

KG Gunaratne, a patient at Galle hospital, said: “I was there when the injured were brought to the hospital. There was one who was completely unconscious, another with injuries to their hand.”

The scale of the disaster threatens to overwhelm the morgue at Galle hospital, which has a capacity for 25 bodies. Hospital staff said the authorities were rushing to set up refrigerated shipping containers to preserve bodies until legal formalities, including inquests and autopsies, were completed.

Iranian diplomatic officials refused to make any comment on the incident. The Sri Lankan government confirmed that Iran had requested assistance in repatriating the bodies of its sailors once the formalities were completed.

One official, Thushara Rodrigo, said no decision had been made yet about the repatriation of the survivors. “It should be internally coordinated with the army, navy and air force, and reach the diplomatic missions,” he said.