COLOMBO(National Times)- Over 200 Iranian crew members from two warships who were rescued by Sri Lanka have been sent back to their homeland, a top official said on Wednesday.
Deputy Defence Minister Aruna Jayasekara said 32 sailors rescued from the IRIS Dena — a frigate attacked by US on March 4 just off Sri Lanka — and another 206 from the IRIS Bushehr left the country.
Sri Lanka rescued 32 Iranian crew from the warship IRIS Dena on March 4 after it was hit by a torpedo from a US submarine.
The ship was returning from a naval exercise organised by India, amid the US-Israeli war on Iran.
Sri Lanka also rescued 208 crew from a second vessel, IRIS Bushehr on March 5 that had also requested assistance from Colombo after it ran into engine trouble.
“The crew of both ships were flown out about 11pm on a special flight on Tuesday night,” Deputy Defence Minister Aruna Jayasekera said.
After its crew was offloaded in Colombo, IRIS Bushehr was towed to waters off Sri Lanka’s eastern coast of Trincomalee eventually reaching on Tuesday morning.
“There are about 8-10 Iranian crew remaining aboard to assist operations,” Jayasekera added. Sri Lanka granted 30-day entry visas to the crew members and housed them in navy and air force camps before arrangements were made for their return to Iran.
A chartered plane arranged by Iran took back the bodies of 84 crew members from the Dena who were killed in the US attack.
“A few sailors from the IRIS Bushehr are staying back to operate the vessel, but 206 joined those rescued from the IRIS Dena and returned home last night in a chartered aircraft,” Jayasekara said.
Official sources said 15 Iranian sailors will remain in Sri Lanka to operate the IRIS Bushehr, which is anchored off Trincomalee in the northeast of the island.
The attack on the IRIS Dena brought the Middle East conflict into the Indian Ocean, killing 104 sailors in the early days of the US and Israeli war against Iran, according to Iranian authorities.
The bodies of 84 victims were recovered and have been repatriated. Last month, Iran’s ambassador to Sri Lanka Alireza Delkhosh said Tehran was in talks with Colombo to repatriate sailors from the IRIS Bushehr which was given safe harbour in Sri Lanka after the IRIS Dena was sunk.
Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake said the island provided protection to the Bushehr crew on humanitarian grounds in line with the 1907 Hague Convention.
It was not immediately clear on what basis the sailors from the second Iranian vessel were allowed to leave Sri Lankan custody. Sri Lanka has refused permission for US warplanes to use ground facilities in the country in order to maintain Colombo’s neutrality.
A third Iranian ship — the IRIS Lavan, with 183 crew members — sought shelter in India’s Kochi port in early March. More than 100 non-essential crew of the IRIS Lavan have since left India.
