Sri Lanka’s government has moved to extend the state of emergency, citing the ongoing conflict in the Middle East and potential disruptions to essential services in the coming weeks.
Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has confirmed that Iran had requested permission for its naval vessels to visit Sri Lanka days before one of its warships was struck near the island’s southern coast.
Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa has questioned how a US submarine was able to enter Sri Lanka’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and carry out an attack on an Iranian naval vessel without the government being aware of its present.
A second Iranian vessel, the Irins Bushehr, is expected to dock at Trincomalee port after 208 crew members were evacuated in Colombo due to an engine malfunction. The incident comes just days after the United States sank an Iranian warship, the Iris Dena, near Sri Lanka.
Ilankai Thamil Arasu Katchi (ITAK) parliamentarian Shanakiyan Rasamanickam questioned the Sri Lankan government in parliament yesterday over alleged links between military intelligence and armed groups, raising concerns about the lack of accountability for a series of violent incidents.
Sri Lanka has confirmed that another Iranian naval vessel is currently operating in waters close to the island’s maritime boundary, as the fallout from the sinking of the Iranian warship IRIS Dena continues to unfold.
Tamil residents staged a protest this week against the construction of an illegal Buddhist vihara in the Thaiyiddy area, built on lands belonging to local Tamil families that were forcibly appropriated.
Sri Lankan authorities have recovered around 80 bodies from the Iranian naval vessel IRIS Dena, which sank off the southern coast of Sri Lanka after being struck by a United States torpedo.
Questions are being raised over whether a recent visit by the commander of the United States Pacific Fleet to Sri Lanka is linked to the sinking of an Iranian warship in waters near the island.
