The United States is reportedly pushing Sri Lanka not to repatriate the crew of IRIS Booshehr, the Iranian ship that was allowed to dock at Trincomalee, as well as the survivors from IRIS Dena, the Iranian warship, sunk by an American submarine earlier this week.
‘Don’t repatriate crew to Iran’
According to reutersan internal State Department cable dated March 6 said that Jayne Howell, the charge d’affaires at the US embassy in Colombo, had emphasized to Sri Lanka’s government that neither the Booshehr crew nor the 32 Dena survivors should be repatriated to Iran.
“Sri Lankan authorities should minimize Iranian attempts to use the detainees for propaganda,” it said.
The cable said Howell also told the Israeli ambassador to India and Sri Lanka that there was no plan to repatriate the crew to Iran. The envoy asked Howell whether there was any engagement with the crew to encourage “defection”, the cable said.
Sinking of IRIS Dena
IRIS Dena, an Iranian warship that was heading to Iran after taking part in a naval exercise in India, was sank the US in the Indian Ocean about 19 nautical miles off Sri Lanka’s southern port city of Galle on Wednesday.
Over 80 sailors on board have been killed, and many more are still unaccounted for. Sri Lankan authorities have rescued a total of 32 people from IRIS Dena.
On Wednesday, Sri Lanka’s deputy minister for health and mass media, Hansaka Wijemuni, told Reuters that Tehran had asked Colombo for help repatriating the bodies of those killed onboard the Dena, but a timeframe to do so has not yet been determined.
According to Iranian officials, IRIS Dena was unarmed at the time it was hit. An unnamed US official, however, told Reuters the Dena was armed when it was hit, and the United States did not provide a warning before carrying out the strike.
Sri Lanka allows second Iranian ship to dock
IRIS Bushehr, a replenishment vessel, sought emergency docking in Sri Lanka on March 4, after one of its engines was reported to be damaged.
Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake said his island nation had a “humanitarian responsibility” to take in the crew.
On Thursday, Sri Lanka began offloading 208 crew members from the IRIS Booshehr to a navy camp near Colombo, after which it is currently being moved to a harbor on the eastern coast.
The State Department cable said the second vessel, the Booshehr, will remain in Sri Lankan custody for the duration of the conflict.
The sinking of IRIS Dena, using a torpedo, the first such act by the US since World War Two, had triggered fears of the conflict’s widening geographic scope.
India allowed Iranian ship to dock in Kochi
On Friday, government sources said that days before IRIS Dena was sunk, India allowed another Iranian vessel to dock at the Kochi Port.
IRIS Lavan, an Iranian Hengam-class landing ship, was permitted to dock in India after it sought emergency shelter on February 28, citing technical issues.
IRIS Lavan was allowed to dock on March 1, and it anchored at Kochi on March 4.
The 183 crew members of the IRIS Lavan are currently being accommodated at Indian naval facilities in Kochi.
Key Takeaways
- The US is actively influencing Sri Lanka’s handling of Iranian crew members amid rising tensions.
- The sinking of the IRIS Dena marks a significant escalation in US-Iran relations.
- Humanitarian responsibilities collide with geopolitical strategies in complex international scenarios.
