by Our Correspondent in Colombo
Speaking in Parliament this morning, President Anura Kumara Dissanayake said Sri Lanka had rejected requests from both Iran and the United States to use the country’s ports and airspace.
He explained that on 26 February 2026, Iran requested permission for three naval ships to call at Colombo Port from March 9 to 13 for a goodwill visit, while on the same day the United States sought to land two fighter jets at Mattala Air Base, a strategic airport in the south. Both requests were denied to preserve Sri Lanka’s neutral foreign policy, President Dissanayake said.
Elaborating further, he added that the two American fighter jets had specifically requested to land on 4 March and 8 March. “However, this is the first official admission by a Sri Lankan official regarding the US request,” he noted.
Talking about the IRIS Dena, the Iranian ship attacked by the US Navy that resulted in the deaths of over 150 Iranian sailors, President Dissanayake said all recovered bodies had been repatriated, while 32 wounded sailors have fully recovered and are currently staying at Koggala Air Force Base.
Meanwhile, explaining his understanding of the conflict in Iran, President Dissanayake said that one party is trying to bring about regime change, while the other, lacking proper technologies, believes it can cause major disruptions to global trade and still win the war. He described this as part of the complex dynamics shaping the conflict and its wider implications.
In fact, in his first address to the nation soon after the Iranian ship was attacked, there was no mention of the US request. Last week, the Secretary of the Defence Ministry admitted that it was the UN Naval Command that first informed the Sri Lankan Navy via email about the emergency incident reported in Sri Lanka’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).
It is noteworthy that the U.S. Special Envoy for South and Central Asia, Sergio Gor, will visit Sri Lanka and the Maldives from March 19 to 24 for high-level engagements focused on advancing cooperation in the Indian Ocean region. While in Sri Lanka, Special Envoy Gor will meet with senior leaders to reaffirm the importance of the U.S.-Sri Lanka relationship and strengthen cooperation in key sectors. His meetings are expected to support U.S. efforts to safeguard vital sea lanes and secure ports, reinforce mutually beneficial trade and commercial ties, and advance a free, open, and prosperous Indo-Pacific for the benefit of both nations. In the Maldives, Special Envoy Gor will meet with senior government officials to reaffirm the United States’ commitment to the bilateral relationship, advance security cooperation, and explore opportunities to support Maldives’ critical infrastructure and economic growth, as well as to commemorate 60 years of diplomatic ties.
However, in the official statement, there was a striking omission: while all reports referred to him as “Special Envoy,” they did not mention that Sergio Gor is actually the United States Ambassador to India.
