Colombo, Sep 8 (PTI) Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath on Tuesday denied reports that Iranian vessels had entered the island nation’s territorial waters.
“There are 47 vessels within proximity of our waters – some of them are Iranian. But they have not requested to enter our waters,” Herath told reporters at the post-Cabinet media briefing.
The US Embassy in Colombo informed the Foreign Ministry about the presence of several Iranian vessels and asked whether authorities were aware of them and whether they were being monitored.
“The Defence and Ports ministries were accordingly notified, and the vessels are being monitored. They are not in our waters,” he said, adding that within 12 nautical miles range of Sri Lankan waters there were no Iranian
vessels.
He said vessels from countries including Thailand and Malaysia were also operating in the area, adding that it was not unusual for commercial vessels to remain in international waters.
In March, Iranian vessel IRIS Dena was sunk by US submarine fire outside Sri Lankan waters, killing at least 84 Iranian sailors.
The second vessel, IRIS Bushehr, was distressed in the vicinity of the US submarine attack on IRIS Dena. Sri Lankan authorities took custody of the Bushehr after the US sank IRIS Dena. More than 200 sailors on board the second vessel were repatriated. PTI CORR ZH ZH
