America Pressures Sri Lanka Not to Release Iranian Sailors

SadaNews - An internal memo from the U.S. State Department, reviewed by Reuters, revealed that Washington pressured the Sri Lankan government not to return the survivors from the Iranian warship that the U.S. sank this week, in addition to the crew of another Iranian vessel held by Sri Lanka.

A U.S. submarine sank the warship "IRIS Dina" in the Indian Ocean, about 19 nautical miles from the southern Sri Lankan coastal city of Galle, on Wednesday, resulting in the death of dozens of sailors and significantly expanding Washington's pursuit of the Iranian navy.

Sri Lanka began yesterday, Thursday, to disembark 208 crew members from a second Iranian vessel, the supply ship "IRIS Bushehr," which was stranded in Sri Lanka's exclusive economic zone, but outside its maritime boundaries.

Sri Lanka's President Anura Kumara Dissanayake stated that his country bears a "humanitarian responsibility" to accommodate the crew.

The targeting of the submarine "Dina" by a torpedo - which U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth described as "quiet death" - is the first act of its kind carried out by the United States since World War II, and serves as clear evidence of the geographical expansion of the Iranian conflict.

The internal memo from the U.S. State Department, dated March 6, which has not been previously published, stated that Jane Howell, the Chargé d'Affaires at the U.S. embassy in Colombo, confirmed to the Sri Lankan government the necessity of not returning the crew of "Bushehr" nor the 32 survivors from "Dina" to Iran.

The memo stated: "Sri Lankan authorities should limit Iran's attempts to use the detainees for propaganda purposes."

The U.S. State Department has not yet responded to a request for comment from Reuters. An immediate comment from representatives of Dissanayake's office and the Sri Lankan Foreign Ministry could not be obtained.

The memo indicated that Howell informed the Israeli ambassador to India and Sri Lanka that there was no plan to return the crew of the ship to Iran. The ambassador asked Howell if there had been any communication with the crew to encourage them to "defect."

The representative of the Israeli embassy in New Delhi has not yet responded to a request for comment.

Sri Lankan Deputy Minister of Health and Media told Reuters on Wednesday that Tehran requested Colombo's assistance in repatriating the bodies of the victims of the "Dina" ship, but no timeframe has yet been established for that.

The ship "Dina" participated in naval maneuvers conducted by India in the Bay of Bengal last month and was on its way back to Iran when it was hit by a U.S. torpedo.

An American official - speaking on condition of anonymity - told Reuters that the ship "Dina" was armed at the time of its targeting, and that the U.S. did not issue any warnings before carrying out the strike.

The U.S. State Department memo stated that the second ship, "Bushehr," would remain under Sri Lankan detention throughout the duration of the conflict.

Sri Lankan authorities announced on Friday that they are escorting "Bushehr" to a port on the eastern coast and transporting most of its crew to a naval camp near Colombo.