Sri Lanka evacuates 208 crew from an Iranian warship after US strike on sister ship

The Sri Lankan Navy will take over the IRIS Bushehr and transfer it to the northeastern port of Trincomalee for safekeeping, amid concerns that the vessel could be targeted.

“We are not taking sides in this conflict, but while maintaining our neutrality we are taking action to save lives,” Dissanayake said in a televised statement. “No person should die in a war like this. Every life is equally precious.”

The Iranian crew and cadets aboard the ship, which had reported an engine fault, were transferred ashore for safety, while the Sri Lankan Navy will operate the vessel.

This comes after a US submarine attack on the Iranian frigate IRIS Dena on Wednesday while it was returning from a naval exercise in Visakhapatnam, India.

According to Iran’s ambassador to India, Mohammad Fathali, the vessel was unarmed at the time.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi condemned the strike on X, calling it an “atrocity at sea” and warning that the United States would “bitterly regret” the precedent set by the attack. H

He added that IRIS Dena, described as a “guest of India’s Navy,” was hit without warning in international waters, 2,000 miles from Iran’s shores, with nearly 130 sailors aboard.

US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth confirmed the strike at the United States Department of Defense, describing it as a “quiet death” delivered by a torpedo.

He said the attack marked a major expansion of operations in the conflict triggered by a joint US-Israel strike on Iran.

Sri Lanka has maintained neutrality in the conflict and has repeatedly called for dialogue to resolve the crisis. Iran remains one of the largest buyers of Sri Lankan tea, the island nation’s primary export.