Sri Lanka says it is trying to ‘safeguard lives’ on another Iranian ship near maritime border
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The Sri Lankan government said on Thursday that it was trying to “safeguard lives” on another Iranian ship that was in international waters close to the island nation’s maritime border, reported Reuters.
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“The ship is not in Sri Lankan waters,” minister Nalinda Jayatissa was quoted as saying by Sri Lanka-based Newswire. “It is located in the exclusive economic zone. The government and the defence ministry are aware of the ship.”
It was unclear if the ship had been hit or had made a distress call to Sri Lankan authorities.
However, the statement came two days after the United States sank an Iranian warship off the Sri Lankan coast.
The warship IRIS Dena was torpedoed by a US submarine in international waters. At least 87 persons died in the incident and 61 were missing. The Sri Lankan Navy had rescued 32.
This came amid a rapidly expanding conflict in West Asia that began on Saturday when Israel and the US launched a joint military operation targeting the Iranian government. Israel has been claiming that Iran is close to obtaining a nuclear weapon, while Tehran has maintained that its nuclear programme is for civilian purposes.
Tehran retaliated by striking Israel and US military bases in the region, and targeting major cities in other Gulf countries and some ships.
On Thursday, Jayatissa told the Sri Lankan Parliament that the...