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Sri Lanka began offloading 208 crew members from a second Iranian vessel a day after 87 people were killed and several others were still missing following a U.S. submarine strike on an Iranian warship in the same region.
"After detailed discussions with all parties, Sri Lanka has decided to assist the Iranian vessel," Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake told reporters at a press briefing in Colombo, Reuters reported.
Among the crew members being offloaded the ship, which is near the port of Colombo, were 53 officials, 84 cadets, 48 senior sailors and 23 sailors, Dissanayake said.
Iranian warship IRIS Dena is seen in the Bay of Bengal. (AP Photo)
The Iranian ship, the IRIS Dena, was sunk Wednesday off Sri Lanka's coast in the Indian Ocean. Officials there have dispatched two freezers to store 87 bodies recovered at sea.
An injured Iranian sailor is moved on a stretcher at Galle National Hospital, where the sailors are receiving treatment, following a submarine attack on the Iranian military ship, IRIS Dena, off the coast of Sri Lanka, in Galle, Sri Lanka, March 5, 2026. (Reuters/Thilina Kaluthotage)
Iran contends the ship was sunk in international waters without warning.
"The U.S. will bitterly regret the precedent it has set," Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said in a post on X.
Iran has asked Sri Lanka to assist with the repatriation of the bodies.
Sri Lankan officials said the Dena was on its way home after taking part in a naval exercise organized by India in the Bay of Bengal from Feb. 18 to 25.
Healthcare workers unload the bodies of Iranian sailors from a vehicle who died when their IRIS Dena warship sank outside Sri Lanka's territorial waters, in Galle, Sri Lanka, Wednesday, March 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)
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Search and rescue operations would continue for an estimated 10 people who remain unaccounted for, they said.
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