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Hind Al Soulia - Riyadh - COLOMBO — Sri Lanka has repatriated 238 Iranian sailors stranded in the South Asian country after one of their warships was torpedoed by a US submarine, a top official said on Wednesday.
Deputy Defense Minister Aruna Jayasekara said 32 sailors rescued from the IRIS Dena, a frigate attacked on March 4 just off Sri Lanka, and another 206 from the IRIS Bushehr were sent back to their homeland on Tuesday.
"A few sailors from the IRIS Bushehr are staying back to operate the vessel, but 206 joined those rescued from the IRIS Dena and returned home last night in a chartered aircraft," Jayasekara said.
Official sources said 15 Iranian sailors will remain in Sri Lanka to operate the IRIS Bushehr, which is anchored off Trincomalee in the northeast of the island.
The attack on the IRIS Dena brought the Middle East conflict into the Indian Ocean, killing 104 sailors in the early days of the US and Israeli war against Iran, according to Iranian authorities.
Sri Lanka rescued 32 Iranian crew from the warship IRIS Dena on March 4 after it was hit by a torpedo from a US submarine.
The ship was returning from a naval exercise organised by India, amid the US-Israeli war on Iran.
Sri Lanka also rescued 208 crew from a second vessel, IRIS Booshehr on March 5 that had also requested assistance from Colombo after it ran into engine trouble.
Sri Lanka granted 30-day entry visas to the crew members and housed them in navy and air force camps before arrangements were made for their return to Iran.
A chartered plane arranged by Iran took back the bodies of 84 crew members from the Dena who were killed in the US attack.
Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake said the island protected the Bushehr crew on humanitarian grounds. It was not immediately clear on what basis the sailors from the second Iranian vessel were allowed to leave Sri Lankan custody.
Sri Lanka has refused permission for US warplanes to use ground facilities in the country to maintain Colombo's neutrality in the war. — Agencies
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