Sri Lanka to treat Iranian sailors according to 'international law'

India lets Iran warship dock as US sinks another
NEW DELHI, Mar 7: Sri Lanka will treat Iranian sailors rescued from a torpedoed frigate according to international law, a minister said Saturday, following reports Washington was pressuring Colombo to not repatriate them.
Foreign Minister VijithaHerath told a conference in New Delhi that Sri Lanka was caring for 32 sailors from the Iranian frigate IRIS Dena under Colombo's international treaty obligations.

The frigate was sunk by a US submarine on Wednesday just off Sri Lanka's southern coast.

Sri Lanka sent its navy to rescue survivors and recover 84 bodies.

Asked if Colombo was under pressure from the US to not repatriate the Iranians, Herath did not answer directly.

"We have taken all the steps according to international laws," Herath said.

India has allowed an Iranian warship to dock as a humanitarian gesture, Foreign Minister SubrahmanyamJaishankar said on Saturday, after the US sank another Iranian navy vessel off neighbouring Sri Lanka.

The Lavan docked at India's southern port of Kochi on Wednesday, the same day the US submarine struck Iranian navy frigate Dena, after an urgent request from Tehran, an Indian government source told Reuters.

US President Donald Trump has said destroying the Iranian navy is one aim of the war he and Israel launched against the Islamic ?Republic a week ago.

The Lavan - an amphibious landing vessel, according to the US Naval Institute's online news site - and two other ships "were coming in for a fleet review and then they got, in a way, caught on the wrong side of the events," Jaishankar told the annual Raisina Dialogue event.    �"AFP, REUTERS