Sri Lanka Navy personnel help Iranian sailors throughout a rescue operation after responding to a misery name from their vessel, the Iranian army ship, IRIS Dena, whereas at sea inside Sri Lanka’s maritime search and rescue area, in Indian Ocean, Sri Lanka, March 4, 2026. Sri Lanka Navy/Handout through REUTERS
| Picture Credit score:
SRI LANKAN NAVY
The US is urgent Sri Lanka’s authorities to not repatriate the survivors from the Iranian warship it sank this week, in addition to the crew of a second Iranian ship that’s in Sri Lankan custody, in keeping with an inner State Division cable seen by Reuters on Friday.
A US submarine sank the IRIS Dena warship within the Indian Ocean about 19 nautical miles off Sri Lanka’s southern port metropolis of Galle on Wednesday, killing dozens of sailors and dramatically widening Washington’s pursuit of the Iranian navy.
On Thursday, Sri Lanka started offloading 208 crew members from a second Iranian ship, the naval auxiliary vessel IRIS Booshehr, which had discovered itself stranded in Sri Lanka’s unique financial zone however exterior its maritime boundary.
President Anura Kumara Dissanayake stated his island nation had a “humanitarian duty” to absorb the crew.
The torpedoing of the Dena – which US Protection Secretary Pete Hegseth described as “quiet dying” – was the primary such motion by the US since World Conflict Two and a transparent signal of the Iran battle’s widening geographic scope.
The interior State Division cable, which was dated March 6 and has not been beforehand reported, stated Jayne Howell, the cost d’affaires on the US embassy in Colombo, had emphasised to Sri Lanka’s authorities that neither the Booshehr crew nor the 32 Dena survivors must be repatriated to Iran.
It stated “Sri Lankan authorities ought to minimise Iranian makes an attempt to make use of the detainees for propaganda.”
The State Division didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark. Representatives for Dissanayake’s workplace and Sri Lanka’s international ministry weren’t instantly out there for remark.
The cable stated Howell additionally informed the Israeli ambassador to India and Sri Lanka there was no plan to repatriate the crew to Iran. The envoy requested Howell whether or not there was any engagement with the crew to encourage “defection”, the cable stated.
A consultant for the Israeli embassy in New Delhi didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
On Wednesday, Sri Lanka’s deputy minister for well being and mass media, Hansaka Wijemuni, informed Reuters that Tehran had requested Colombo for assist repatriating the our bodies of these killed aboard the Dena, however a timeframe to take action has not but been decided.
The Dena had taken half in naval workouts organised by India within the Bay of Bengal final month and was returning to Iran when it was struck by a US torpedo.
A US official, talking on situation of anonymity, informed Reuters the Dena was armed when it was hit and the US didn’t present a warning earlier than finishing up the strike.
The State Division cable stated the second vessel, the Booshehr, will stay in Sri Lankan custody throughout the battle.
Sri Lankan authorities stated on Friday that they have been escorting the Booshehr to a harbor on the jap coast and transferring most of its crew to a navy camp close to Colombo.
Printed on March 7, 2026
