The fate of Iranian sailors stranded by war thousands of miles from their country remains undecided.
More than 250 sailors of the Iranian Navy have been stuck in Sri Lanka since the opening days of the war launched by the US and Israel. So far, the Sri Lankan government has kept the sailors, who include survivors of an Iranian warship torpedoed by a US submarine, in protective custody.
Iran’s ambassador has asked Sri Lanka to repatriate them, saying that since their countries are not at war, they should be able to come to an agreement. However, Sri Lanka is not so sure.
It feels caught between the two sides in the conflict, eager to keep good relations with both Iran and the US while avoiding antagonising either one. To preserve its neutrality, Sri Lanka earlier declined an American request to land military aircraft there.
The same balancing act has also left Sri Lankan officials trying to figure out what to do with the Iranian sailors, who number 253.
As a result, they have been stuck in limbo, unable to leave. While the Iranians are closely surveilled and monitored, Sri Lanka says it is taking good care of them, tending to their physical and mental health.
Thirty-two of the sailors were rescued from the Dena, an Iranian frigate torpedoed on March 4 off the Sri Lankan coast. The other 221 came from the Bushehr, an Iranian Navy supply ship that docked the following day after suffering engine trouble.
Sri Lanka has already repatriated 84 bodies recovered from the Dena. Another 20 crewmen remain missing and presumed dead.
After giving the Iranians 30-day visas on humanitarian grounds, Sri Lanka has housed most of them at military facilities until it decides what to do with them all.
Since then, diplomats at the Iranian embassy have held daily talks with Sri Lankan officials, trying to negotiate the sailors’ return. Details of the discussions were not previously reported.
Iran considers the release of its sailors to be a “bilateral” issue that can be resolved directly, since the two countries are on friendly terms, Alireza Delkhosh, Iran’s ambassador to Sri Lanka, said in an interview on Thursday.
However, one sticking point has been the legal status of the Iranian sailors. Delkhosh said they should be free to go because Sri Lanka is not a participant in the hostilities, meaning the sailors are not prisoners of war.
While Sri Lankan officials agree that the Iranians are not captives, they say they cannot just release them, either.
“They are not prisoners,” Sri Lanka’s foreign affairs minister, Vijitha Herath, said in an interview.
“But that doesn’t mean, give them all freedom.”
New York Times News Service