NEW DELHI, March 7 — Sri Lanka will provide refuge to Iranian sailors rescued from a torpedoed frigate in accordance with international law, a minister said Saturday, amid reports that Washington was urging Colombo not to repatriate them.
NEW DELHI, March 7 — Sri Lanka will provide refuge to Iranian sailors rescued from a torpedoed frigate in accordance with international law, a minister said Saturday, amid reports that Washington was urging Colombo not to repatriate them.
Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath told a conference in New Delhi that Sri Lanka is caring for 32 sailors from the Iranian frigate IRIS Dena under its obligations under international treaties.
The frigate was sunk by a US submarine on Wednesday just off Sri Lanka’s southern coast. The Sri Lankan navy rescued survivors and recovered 84 bodies.
When asked whether the US had pressured Colombo to withhold repatriation of the Iranians, Herath did not give a direct response. “We have taken all actions in line with international law,” he said.
Sri Lanka also offered safe harbor to a second Iranian warship, IRIS Bushehr, evacuating its 219 crew members a day after the Dena attack. The Bushehr was brought to Trincomalee on Sri Lanka’s northeast coast after reporting engine problems.
Meanwhile, India allowed a third Iranian warship, IRIS Lavan, to dock at its port on humanitarian grounds after it too experienced operational issues. The three ships had participated in a multi-national fleet review hosted by India prior to the outbreak of conflict in the Middle East last Saturday.
“I think it was the humane thing to do, guided by that principle,” Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishkar said. The Lavan docked at the southwestern Indian port of Kochi on Wednesday. “Many onboard were young cadets. They have disembarked and are staying at a nearby facility,” he added.
Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake affirmed this week that Colombo would follow the Hague Convention, which mandates that neutral states hold combatants from warring nations until hostilities end.
A senior official said Colombo is coordinating with the International Committee of the Red Cross regarding the survivors from the Dena. International humanitarian law applies to them, and the wounded may be repatriated at their request.
Iranian diplomats in Colombo have requested that the remains of the 84 sailors killed in the US attack be returned to Iran. — AFP
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