The remains of 84 Iranian naval personnel who died in a US submarine torpedo attack will be flown home from Sri Lanka on Friday. The March 4 attack sank the Iranian warship IRIS Dena as it returned from naval exercises in India during ongoing US-Israeli military operations against Iran.
COLOMBO – Sri Lankan authorities are preparing to send home the remains of 84 Iranian naval personnel who perished when a US submarine torpedoed their warship off the island nation’s coastline last week.
The Iranian vessel IRIS Dena went down on March 4 after being struck by a torpedo fired from an American submarine. The warship was heading back from naval training exercises conducted in India during the current US-Israeli military campaign against Iran.
Two additional Iranian naval vessels that had taken part in the same exercises fled to safety – the IRIS Lavan found refuge at an Indian port, while the IRIS Booshehr made it to Sri Lankan waters.
A Sri Lankan judicial ruling this week directed that the sailors’ remains, which have been kept at the National Hospital morgue in the southern port city of Galle, should be released to Iranian diplomatic officials.
According to Sri Lankan defense ministry sources cited by local media outlets, the deceased sailors will be transported home Friday via a specially arranged aircraft departing from Mattala International Airport in the country’s southern region.
“Arrangements are being made to transport the bodies of the Iranian crew from the hospital to the Mattala airport,” an Iranian embassy source in Colombo told Reuters, declining to specify the exact departure time.
The remains were subsequently transported by truck convoy through the city under police escort.
Sri Lankan health, foreign affairs, and defense officials did not return Reuters’ requests for comment. The nation’s naval forces indicated they were not participating in the transportation and repatriation operations.
An Indian government official revealed that following the aircraft’s departure from Sri Lanka with the deceased sailors, India will permit the plane to land on Indian soil to collect some of the 183 crew members from the IRIS Lavan, along with Iranian civilians who have been unable to leave India.
India’s foreign ministry has not yet responded to requests for comment. The official noted uncertainty regarding the timing of the aircraft’s arrival and departure from India.
Currently in Sri Lanka are 32 survivors from the destroyed vessel, plus 208 sailors from the IRIS Booshehr.
Sri Lankan foreign ministry officials are maintaining contact with Iran’s embassy in Colombo regarding the crew situation, while the embassy coordinates with officials in Tehran, according to defense ministry statements.
Reuters previously reported that Washington has been urging Colombo not to allow the survivors from either vessel to return to Iran.
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