New Delhi: A Sri Lankan court on Wednesday ordered the release and repatriation of the bodies of 84 Iranian sailors killed when the Iranian naval vessel IRIS Dena was torpedoed in the Indian Ocean earlier this month, rejecting diplomatic pressure from the United States to prevent their return.
The order was issued by the Galle Chief Magistrate’s Court, which directed authorities at Karapitiya Teaching Hospital to hand over the identified bodies to officials of the Iranian Embassy in Colombo for repatriation to Tehran. The remains had been kept under refrigeration after they were brought ashore following the incident about 40 nautical miles off Sri Lanka’s southern coast on 4 March.
Sri Lankan authorities said a total of 87 crew members were killed when the vessel was struck by torpedoes fired from a US submarine operating in the Indian Ocean. Thirty-two sailors survived the attack and were rescued by the Sri Lankan Navy after abandoning the vessel.
The court’s order followed the completion of post-mortem examinations and formal identification procedures carried out under Sri Lankan law.Â
Once those procedures were completed, the magistrate authorised the hospital authorities to release the bodies to Iranian diplomatic officials.
The decision came days after a US diplomatic cable sent from the US Embassy in Colombo urged Sri Lankan authorities not to repatriate the surviving crew of the Dena or sailors aboard another Iranian vessel, IRIS Bushehr, which had docked at the port of Trincomalee.Â
The cable, dated 6 March 6 was written by US Charge d’Affaires Jayne Howell.
The communication argued that returning the sailors could allow Tehran to use them for propaganda during the ongoing conflict and suggested efforts to discourage the sailors from returning to Iran. The cable said there were no plans to repatriate the crew and discussed the possibility of encouraging defections among the Iranian personnel.
Sri Lankan officials have not publicly commented on the diplomatic communication, but the court ruling effectively cleared the way for the bodies to be returned to Iran after the legal requirements under Sri Lankan jurisdiction were completed.
The IRIS Dena incident has drawn international attention because the attack occurred in the Indian Ocean rather than the Persian Gulf, significantly expanding the geographic scope of the ongoing conflict.Â
Iranian officials had condemned the attack and described the dead sailors as martyrs. The repatriation of the bodies is expected to take place in the coming days once diplomatic arrangements are completed.
The ruling also underscores Sri Lanka’s role as a neutral state handling the aftermath of the incident under international maritime and humanitarian law, as several countries across the Indian Ocean region monitor how smaller nations respond to pressures arising from the expanding conflict.
