Sri Lanka takes control of an Iranian vessel off its coast after US sunk an Iranian warship

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Sri Lanka began transferring more than 200 sailors from an Iranian vessel to shore Friday after the ship sought assistance while anchored outside the country’s waters, as tensions mounted in the Indian Ocean following the sinking of an Iranian warship by a U.S. submarine.

Sri Lanka navy spokesman Cmdr. Buddhika Sampath said the sailors of the IRIS Bushehr were being brought first to the port of Colombo and the ship will later be moved to an eastern port on the island.

“The disembarkation is in progress,” he said, adding the sailors would be taken to the naval base at Welisara, about 20 kilometers (12 miles) north of Colombo, after medical exams and immigration procedures.

The move by the Sri Lankan government to take over the vessel came after the U.S. sank the Iranian warship IRIS Dena off Sri Lanka’s coast Wednesday. The strike marked one of the rare instances since World War II in which a submarine sank a surface warship, and highlighted the expanding scope of the U.S.-Israeli military campaign against Iran.

IRIS Dena warship had participated in naval exercises hosted by India before heading into international waters on its way home. At least 74 countries had joined the events, according to India's Defense Ministry, including the U.S. Navy, which conducted reconnaissance aircraft and maritime patrol drills.

The Sri Lankan navy rescued 32 sailors and recovered 87 bodies after the attack.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi called it an “atrocity at sea” and said the US would “bitterly regret” the attack.

Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake said late Thursday that authorities decided to take control of the Iranian vessel IRIS Bushehr after discussions with Iranian officials and the ship’s captain, after one of its engines failed.

“We have to understand that this is not an ordinary situation. It’s a request by a ship belonging to one party to enter into our port. We have to consider that according to the international treaties and conventions,” he told journalists Thursday night.

Separately on Friday, he wrote on X: “No civilian should die in wars. Our approach is that every single life is as precious as our own.”

The IRIS Bushehr had been described in previous Iranian media reports as a navy logistics ship that also had a helicopter pad on it.

The episode underscores how the conflict involving Iran is widening beyond the Middle East and spilling into the Indian Ocean, putting strategically located Sri Lanka in a delicate position as it tries to balance humanitarian obligations, international maritime law and its longstanding policy of non-alignment.

Dissanayake said some crew members would remain on board to help the Sri Lankan navy navigate the vessel to Trincomalee on the island’s northeast coast, about 265 kilometers (165 miles) from Colombo. The remaining sailors will be housed at a naval base, he said, adding that Sri Lanka was guided by neutrality while seeking to uphold humanitarian principles.

“We have followed a very clear stance. We will not be biased to any state not we will be submissive to any state,” he said.

Saaliq reported from New Delhi.