The US State Department is pressuring the Sri Lankan government not to return its rescued Iranians from two Iranian ships to Iran, Reuters reports.
The first ship was destroyed by a US submarine attack, and 32 people were rescued from it, and nearly 82 bodies were brought to the Karapitiya Hospital. 204 people were rescued from the second Iranian ship and are being held at the Welisara Naval Base. The ship is reported to have sailed to Trincomalee Harbor.
The number of people rescued from these two ships is close to 240, and the US State Department is pressuring Sri Lanka not to send them back to Iran, Reuters reports.
The news agency said it was citing an internal US State Department cable. Reuters also said it did not receive a response from the US State Department or Sri Lanka to queries on the matter.
Sri Lanka’s Deputy Minister of Health and Mass Media Hansaka Wijemuni told Reuters that Tehran had asked Colombo for help in repatriating the bodies of those who died on the Iranian ship. But he said a specific timeframe had not yet been decided.
Reuters headline
