Sri Lanka repatriates remains of 84 Iranian sailors

• Court orders prompt handover of bodies to Iranian embassy following autopsies in Galle
• Chartered flight transports sealed boxes from Mattala airport to Iran
• Colombo still holds over 250 crewmen from second ship; faces Washington’s pressure to halt repatriation

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka on Friday repatriated the remains of 84 Iranian sailors killed when their warship was sunk by a US submarine nine days earlier, an attack that extended the raging Middle East conflict to the Indian Ocean, officials said.

The seamen were killed when the frigate IRIS Dena was torpedoed on March 4 just off Sri Lanka’s coast. The incident occurred while the vessel was returning from a naval exercise in India amid a wider US-Israeli war on Iran.

An Iranian-chartered Airbus A340 transported the bodies from Mattala International Airport in the island’s south, according to an airport official who requested anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the media. The flight’s destination was not disclosed. “The departure was delayed because 84 sealed boxes had to be loaded,” the official said.

The repatriation follows a Sri Lankan court order this week to hand over the bodies, which had been stored in a morgue at the National Hospital in the southern port city of Galle, to the Iranian embassy in Colombo.

“All domestic procedures have been completed, and the Iranians are bringing a chartered aircraft for the repatriation,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Thushara Rodrigo said.

The 32 sailors who survived the attack on the Dena will remain in Sri Lanka for the time being, the Foreign Ministry confirmed. Of those rescued, 22 have been discharged from the hospital and are being held at an air force base.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) had been contacted regarding the injured sailors but was not involved in the repatriation of the bodies, he added.

Sri Lanka is currently hosting 251 Iranian sailors. In addition to the Dena survivors, 219 crew members from a second Iranian warship, the IRIS Bushehr, were granted safe harbour after their vessel was allowed into Sri Lankan waters a day after the sinking. The Bushehr reportedly experienced engine problems in the same region.

Its crew members are being held at a navy camp just north of Colombo while their ship has been taken over by Sri Lanka’s navy, which is attempting to repair one of its two malfunctioning engines.

Both Sri Lanka and neighbouring India said they provided shelter to the Iranian sailors due to “humanitarian considerations,” amid fears they could be targeted in further US attacks.

A third Iranian ship, the IRIS Lavan, bypassed Sri Lanka and entered safe harbour in the southern Indian port of Kochi on the same day the Dena was sunk. Its 183 crew members are now in Indian custody.

The Iranian ships had been participating in a naval exercise organised by India off the coast of Visakhapatnam when the conflict with the US and Israel erupted.

The repatriation of the deceased has come amid reported diplomatic pressure. Reuters reported last week that Washington was pressing Colombo not to repatriate the survivors from the two vessels in Sri Lanka. Both the United States and Iran are key trade partners for the island nation, which is navigating a delicate geopolitical balancing act.

A local magistrate ordered the bodies to be handed over to the Iranian embassy for repatriation to the next of kin.

The bodies, which were recovered from the Indian Ocean, were taken to Karapitiya Hospital in Galle, about 115 kilometres south of the capital, where autopsies were performed. A local undertaker said the embalmed remains were sent back in sealed boxes.The Iranian embassy in Colombo did not immediately comment.

Published in Dawn, March 14th, 2026