Sri Lanka's Deputy Defense Minister Aruna Jayasekara stated on 15/4 that 32 Iranian sailors rescued from the IRIS Dena, a warship attacked off the coast of Sri Lanka on 4/3, along with 206 sailors from the IRIS Bushehr, returned home yesterday on a chartered plane.

15 Iranian sailors remain in Sri Lanka to operate the IRIS Bushehr, which is anchored off Trincomalee in the island's northeast.

Sri Lanka navy rescues Iranian sailors after the warship Dena was sunk off the coast near Galle on 4/3. *AP*.

According to Iranian authorities, the US torpedo attack on the IRIS Dena on 4/3 caused the Middle East conflict to spread to the Indian Ocean, resulting in the deaths of 104 sailors during the initial days of the war between the United States, Israel, and Iran. The bodies of 84 victims have been recovered and repatriated.

Sri Lanka granted the IRIS Bushehr permission to dock after the IRIS Dena was sunk. Sri Lanka President Anura Kumara Dissanayake affirmed that the nation provided protection for the Bushehr's sailors on humanitarian grounds, in accordance with the Hague Convention of 1907.

To maintain its neutral stance, Sri Lanka refused to allow United States fighter jets to use the island nation's ground infrastructure.

A third Iranian naval vessel, the IRIS Lavan, carrying 183 sailors, sought refuge at India's Kochi port in early March. Since then, over 100 non-essential crew members from the IRIS Lavan have departed India.

Hong Hanh (According to AFP)