Sri Lanka has coordinated the rescue of 40 Iranian sailors from multiple commercial vessels in international waters off its coast and facilitated their return to Iran, the country’s Foreign Ministry said on Sunday. Foreign Ministry spokesman Thushara Rodrigo said the ministry had received a diplomatic request from the Iranian embassy to rescue the sailors, who were experiencing unspecified medical emergencies.
The ministry did not disclose further details about the circumstances of the rescue. However, local media reported that the sailors were aboard vessels identified as US-sanctioned oil tankers. The rescue comes amid a US blockade of Iranian shipping as part of the ongoing war involving Iran.
According to Rodrigo, the sailors, drawn from 19 vessels, were brought ashore at Galle Harbour, about 126 kilometres from Sri Lanka’s commercial capital, Colombo. They received medical treatment before being repatriated to Iran early on Sunday. The latest operation follows another major rescue earlier this year, when Sri Lanka came to the aid of dozens of Iranian sailors after the Iranian warship IRIS Dena was sunk by a torpedo fired from a US submarine on 4 March.