Sri Lanka evacuated 208 crew members of an Iranian navy vessel on Thursday, President Anura Kumara Dissanayake said, a day after a US submarine struck and sank another Iranian frigate, killing dozens of sailors.
Sri Lanka's navy will also take over the second vessel and shift it to the northeastern port of Trincomalee for safekeeping, Dissanayake said, amid fears that it could be a target of attack.
"We are not taking sides in this conflict, but while maintaining our neutrality, we are taking action to save lives," Dissanayake said in a televised statement.
"No person should die in a war like this. Every life is equally precious."
The Sri Lankan navy will crew the IRIS Bushehr, which had reported a fault with one of its engines, while the Iranian crew and cadets aboard will be transferred ashore for safety.
IRIS Dena, the frigate that was attacked on Wednesday, was unarmed as it was returning from a naval exercise in the Indian port city of Visakhapatnam, Iran's ambassador to India Mohammad Fathali said, according to the Press Trust of India news agency.
Trincomalee, on Sri Lanka’s northeastern coast, hosts one of the world’s largest natural deep-water harbours and has long been regarded as strategically important in the Indian Ocean due to proximity to major sea lanes of communication.
Though Sri Lanka has stressed that the evacuations were strictly humanitarian, some analysts say Colombo’s decision to allow the Iranian vessel to dock at the port could carry broader geopolitical implications, potentially drawing scrutiny from US, Indian, or Israeli intelligence.
There has been no immediate public reaction from those involved in the conflict or any regional powers.
Earlier on Thursday, Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi denounced the attack and warned Washington it would "bitterly regret" establishing such a precedent.
"The US has perpetrated an atrocity at sea, 2,000 miles away from Iran's shores. Frigate Dena, a guest of India's Navy, carrying almost 130 sailors, was struck in international waters without warning," he posted on X.
"Mark my words: The US will come to bitterly regret precedent it has set."
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