Two Iranian sailors rescued by the Sri Lankan Navy’s IRIS Dena warship are taken to a forensic medical officer from the National Hospital in Galle, Sri Lanka, Thursday, March 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)
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COLOMBO, Sri Lanka – Sri Lanka on Friday transferred more than 200 sailors from an Iranian naval vessel ashore after it sought help while anchored outside the country’s waters, as tensions rose in the Indian Ocean after the sinking of an Iranian warship by a US submarine.
Sri Lanka Navy spokesperson Cmdr. Buddhika Sampath said 204 sailors from IRIS Bushehr were brought to the Welisara Naval Base near the capital Colombo. They underwent border control procedures and medical tests, but none were found to have health problems.
About 15 people were left on board for rescue along with Sri Lankan Navy personnel as the ship malfunctioned. Iranian sailors are interpreting operational instructions, manuals and documents for their Sri Lankan counterparts. The vessel will be taken to Trincomalee port in eastern Sri Lanka and will remain in Sri Lankan custody until further notice, he said.
The Iranian ship participated in the naval exercise
The Sri Lankan government seized Bushehr after the US sank the Iranian warship IRIS Dena off the coast of Sri Lanka on Wednesday. The strike is one of the rarest instances since World War II in which a submarine has sunk a surface warship and highlights the extent of the expanding US-Israeli military operation against Iran.
The Dena country participated in naval exercises organized by India before heading into international seas on its way home. At least 74 countries joined the events, according to India’s defense ministry, including the US Navy, which conducted reconnaissance flights and maritime patrol drills.
The ministry said the Indian Navy had received a distress signal from Dena but by the time it launched a search and rescue operation, the Sri Lankan Navy had already started its own rescue efforts.
Sri Lanka Navy rescued 32 sailors and recovered 87 bodies.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghi said the Dena was carrying “about 130” personnel. The normal crew size for that class of warships is 140. Araghchi called the sinking an “atrocity at sea” and said the US “deeply regrets” the attack.
Sri Lanka said it acted under international law
Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake said late on Thursday that officials had decided to take control of the IRIS Bushehr after discussions with Iranian officials and the ship’s captain after its engine failed.
“We have to understand that this is not a normal situation. This is a request by a ship belonging to one party to enter our port. We have to treat it according to international agreements and conventions,” he told journalists on Thursday night.
Separately on Friday, he wrote on X: “No civilian should die in wars. Our approach is that every life is as precious as our own.”
The IRIS Bushehr has been described in previous Iranian media reports as a naval logistics ship equipped with a helicopter pad.
Dissanayake said Sri Lanka was guided by neutrality while trying to uphold humanitarian principles.
“We have followed a very clear stand, we are not partial to any state and we are not subservient to any state,” he said.
The Iranian warship IRIS Dena is seen in the Bay of Bengal during the International Fleet Review in Visakhapatnam, India on February 18, 2026. (AP Photo)
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Sri Lanka’s neutrality tested
The widening Middle East conflict puts Sri Lanka in a strategically sensitive position as it tries to balance humanitarian obligations, international maritime law and its long-standing policy of non-alignment.
Sri Lanka’s retired former foreign secretary HMGS Palihakkara, who also served as a permanent representative to the United Nations, said the country had acted responsibly and impartially.
“There was a distress call from the ship. So naturally Sri Lanka, being a party to the Law of the Sea and the Hague Convention, had no choice but to do it by mounting a humanitarian operation to save lives and provide medical care to the affected,” he said.
Palihakkara said that the parties to the conflict understand that Sri Lanka is not taking sides.
“You cannot ignore the distress call. Even the invading forces cannot let the shipwrecked sailors die. That is the law,” Palihakkara said.
Katsuya Yamamoto, director of the strategy and deterrence program at Tokyo’s Sasakawa Peace Foundation, said Sri Lanka is considered a neutral state, not at war with the US or Iran. So, Bushehr can enter the Sri Lankan port if the government gives permission, he said.
Yamamoto said that once the ship is docked, it falls under Iranian jurisdiction, adding that Sri Lankan authorities have no legal grounds to inspect it unless Colombo decides in favor of the US.
Sri Lanka’s UN Resident Coordinator, Marc-Andre Franche, welcomed Sri Lanka’s intervention, saying at X that it “underlines its commitment to multilateralism, maintaining neutrality and peace”.
Australians in a submarine
The Australian government confirmed on Friday that three Australians were on board the submarine that sank the IRIS Dena. The Australians were there as part of a tripartite US, Australian and British training program under the AUKUS security agreement.
The Australian government did not warn that the US and Israel planned to attack Iran. Australia has not commented on the legality of the attack, but supports the objective of preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.
Neil James, executive director of the Australian Defense Association policy think tank, said it was “reasonably rare” for Australians embedded with another nation’s military to go to war against a country like Iran, which is not at war with Australia.
An Australian would not have fired the torpedo that sank the Iranian ship, he said.
“The Australians don’t have the job of pushing the button on the torpedo because the captain of the boat gives the order and someone else, maybe the weapons officer, pushes the button but they won’t be Australian,” James said.
