The US State Department is demanding that the Sri Lankan government refuse to repatriate the crews of two Iranian vessels, one of which was sunk by a US submarine this week. This is reported by Reuters, writes UNN.
Details
According to an internal State Department cable, Washington insists on holding 208 crew members of the auxiliary vessel IRIS Booshehr and 32 survivors from the warship IRIS Dena. US Chargé d'Affaires in Colombo, Jane Howell, emphasized that the island's authorities must block any attempts by Tehran to use the detained sailors for propaganda purposes.
Destruction of the Iranian fleet and Colombo's humanitarian stance
The torpedoing of the IRIS Dena in the Indian Ocean was the first such US operation since World War II, which Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth described as a "quiet death."
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The incident occurred 19 nautical miles from the port of Galle, resulting in the deaths of dozens of Iranian servicemen and a sharp expansion of the conflict's geography. At the same time, Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake declared his state's "humanitarian duty" to accept sailors from the "Bushehr" vessel, which ran aground in the country's exclusive economic zone.
Sri Lankan authorities must minimize Iran's attempts to use detainees for propaganda
International pressure and consequences for the Iranian crew
Washington views the detained sailors as a valuable resource in confronting Tehran, seeking to limit the Iranian regime's ability to manipulate the facts of the fleet's demise.
Despite Colombo's calls to adhere to international maritime rescue norms, the US demands strict isolation of all persons who were on board the vessels at the time of the attack or accident. The further fate of the 240 Iranians remains the subject of sharp diplomatic disputes between Sri Lanka, the US, and Iran.