The United States is reportedly pressing Sri Lanka not to repatriate survivors from the Irahumannian warship IRIS Dena, which was sunk by a U.S. submarine this week, as well as the crew of a second Iranian vessel, the IRIS Booshehr, currently in Sri Lankan custody, according to an internal State Department cable obtained by Reuters. The Dena was torpedoed about 19 nautical miles off the southern port city of Galle, killing dozens of sailors and marking the first U.S. naval strike of this kind since World War Two, dramatically expanding the geographic scope of the ongoing Iran conflict.
Reuters reports that Sri Lanka began offloading 208 crew members from the Booshehr, which had become stranded in the country’s exclusive economic zone but outside its maritime boundary. President Anura Kumara Dissanayake described his nation’s response as a “humanitarian responsibility.” However, the State Department cable, dated March 6, stated that Jayne Howell, the charge d’affaires at the U.S. embassy in Colombo, had instructed Sri Lankan authorities that neither the Booshehr crew nor the 32 Dena survivors should be returned to Iran, citing concerns that Tehran might use the detainees for propaganda purposes.
The cable also indicated that Howell had briefed the Israeli ambassador to India and Sri Lanka, noting there were no plans to repatriate the crew to Iran and raising questions about potential engagement with the detainees to encourage “defection.” Sri Lankan officials have not confirmed a timeline for repatriating the bodies of those killed aboard the Dena, despite requests from Tehran.
The Dena had recently participated in naval exercises organized by India in the Bay of Bengal before being struck by the U.S. torpedo. A U.S. official, speaking anonymously to Reuters, said the vessel was armed at the time and that no warning was given before the strike. The Booshehr remains in Sri Lankan custody for the duration of the conflict, with authorities escorting the ship to an eastern harbor and relocating most of its crew to a navy camp near Colombo.
This development underscores the intensifying U.S. naval campaign against Iran and highlights the geopolitical complexities involving third-party countries like Sri Lanka, caught between humanitarian obligations and pressure from Washington, as detailed in Reuters’ reporting.
