Internal memo reveals US urging Sri Lanka not to repatriate Iranian sailors

WASHINGTON: US officials have urged Sri Lankan authorities against sending home survivors from an Iranian warship destroyed by a US submarine this week, as well as the crew of a second Iranian vessel now in Sri Lankan custody, according to a confidential US State Department memo reviewed by Reuters.

The Iranian frigate Dena was struck and sunk Wednesday in the Indian Ocean, roughly 19 nautical miles off the southern Sri Lankan port of Galle. Dozens of Iranian sailors were killed in the attack, marking a major expansion of American military engagement with Iran’s navy.

Following the sinking, Sri Lanka began disembarking the 208 sailors aboard another Iranian ship, the auxiliary vessel Booshehr, which had drifted into Sri Lanka’s exclusive economic zone.

Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has described his country’s actions as fulfilling a “humanitarian responsibility” to care for the sailors.

Sri Lankan officials have transferred about 20 of the 32 Dena survivors to an air force facility in Koggala after their discharge from a hospital in Galle, military and medical sources told Reuters.

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth characterized the torpedo strike on the Dena as a “quiet death,” the first of its kind by US forces since World War II and a clear indication of the widening geographic reach of the conflict with Iran.

The internal cable, dated Friday, states that Jayne Howell, the top US diplomat in Colombo, pressed Sri Lankan leaders not to repatriate the Booshehr crew or the Dena survivors. It also urged Sri Lankan authorities to limit any Iranian use of the detained sailors for propaganda purposes.

However, a State Department spokesperson, speaking anonymously, emphasized that Washington was not seeking to override Sri Lanka’s authority. “The United States, of course, respects and recognizes Sri Lanka’s sovereignty in the handling of this situation,” the spokesperson said, adding that decisions about the sailors’ fates are for Sri Lanka to make under its laws and international obligations.

 “We are engaged in dialogue with Sri Lanka, with a primary goal of reducing the threat Iran poses to the United States and our partners,” the spokesperson added.

Officials from President Dissanayake’s office and Sri Lanka’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The memo also notes Howell informed the Israeli ambassador covering India and Sri Lanka that there were no plans to send the Iranian crews back to Iran. The ambassador reportedly inquired whether US officials had spoken to the sailors about encouraging defections. An Israeli embassy representative in New Delhi did not comment.

On Wednesday, Sri Lankan Deputy Minister for Health and Mass Media Hansaka Wijemuni told Reuters that Iran had asked Colombo to help return the bodies of those killed aboard the Dena, but no timetable had been set.

The Dena had been returning to Iran after taking part in naval exercises in the Bay of Bengal when the US strike hit, a US official told Reuters, adding the ship was armed and was not warned before the attack.

According to the State Department memo, the Booshehr will stay under Sri Lankan control for the duration of the conflict. Sri Lankan officials said Friday the vessel was being escorted to an eastern port, and most of its crew were being moved to a naval base near Colombo.