️ The Sri Lankan government has announced efforts to 'safeguard lives' on a second Iranian military vessel off its coast, following a U.S. submarine's torpedo attack on an Iranian frigate in international waters that killed over 80 people. Cabinet spokesperson Nalinda Jayatissa stated on Thursday, 'We are doing our utmost to safeguard lives,' adding that the second ship is in the economic zone beyond Sri Lanka's territorial waters. This incident occurs as the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran allegedly expands beyond the Middle East.
️ Jayatissa reported that the second warship is believed to be carrying more than 100 crew members and is heading to the same area where the U.S. submarine destroyed the Iranian frigate, raising fears it could be targeted similarly. Al Jazeera's Minelle Fernandez, reporting from Colombo, noted that the vessel is part of a group of three Iranian navy ships returning from an international maritime event in India. She added that Sri Lanka's government 'has to walk on eggshells,' as the country risks being drawn into the conflict despite not taking sides.
️ In the southern port city of Galle, authorities are preparing to hand over the remains of the 87 Iranian sailors killed in the torpedo attack claimed by the U.S. military. At the main hospital in Galle, 32 rescued Iranians are being treated under tight security provided by police and elite commandos, with a separate ward set up for them. A nurse at the hospital told AFP that most have minor injuries, but some suffered fractures and burns.
️ Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Thursday that the U.S. 'will come to bitterly regret the precedent it has set,' marking the first time the Iranian government acknowledged the sinking of the IRIS Dena in the Indian Ocean. He wrote on X that the frigate, 'a guest of India's Navy carrying almost 130 sailors, was struck in international waters without warning.' General Kioumars Heydari, a commander of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), told state TV that the IRGC has 'decided to fight Americans wherever they are,' and Iran does not care about the war's duration.
️ Later on Thursday, the IRGC claimed it hit a U.S. tanker in the northern Gulf, with the vessel on fire, and stated that during wartime, passage through the Strait of Hormuz would be under Iran's control. The U.S. regime has not responded to this claim. Sri Lankan navy spokesman Buddhika Sampath told AFP that search operations for missing Iranian sailors are ongoing.
Source: www.aljazeera.com