Exclusive: US pressing Sri Lanka not to repatriate Iranian crew and survivors from sunken ship, memo says - Reuters

<a href="https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMiywFBVV95cUxQUlN5UzdoYnNDQzkyVmpqcXpwaWVHUzUyWm1FVVJqdm1LUzJ4SXF4WTd5SFBVZVJ1VEhseFFBNXMtT0k1QnRzUVJXVTc0YjRWU0htWFJ6TTEwMUdtbmZ1Y0RGaGRwWnRKMGtNanBuZXFWN09RNHRYckQ1U0pBZTJsZEQyYUhOUE9Ibnd4OGs0YmVvNWRsXzh1MFZmekZPQTBDVHpXR2VoRlA4cGt0NU5UWi0taFpNejQ4NG9mS2hNcG9sMnhTZmVGQkpnOA?oc=5" target="_blank">Exclusive: US pressing Sri Lanka not to repatriate Iranian crew and survivors from sunken ship, memo says</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;<font color="#6f6f6f">Reuters</font>

An internal U.S. State Department cable reveals that the U.S. is urging Sri Lanka not to repatriate survivors from the Iranian warship IRIS Dena and the crew of the IRIS Booshehr, currently in Sri Lankan custody, to Iran.

The United States has urged Sri Lanka not to repatriate Iranian sailors rescued after the sinking of the IRIS Dena, according to an internal U.S. State Department cable reported by Reuters.

Sri Lanka has evacuated more than 200 crew members from a second Iranian naval vessel off its coast, a day after a US submarine sank an Iranian frigate in the same waters, leaving 87 sailors dead.

Sri Lanka’s president, Anura Kumara Dissanayake, confirmed that the country’s navy would take over Iranian military support ship IRIS Bushehr and allow it to dock at the north-eastern port of Trincomalee.

The United States is pressing Sri Lanka's government not to repatriate the survivors from the Iranian warship it sank this week, as well as the crew of a second Iranian ship that is in Sri Lankan custody, according to an internal State Department cable seen by Reuters on Friday.

The United States is urging Sri Lanka not to repatriate survivors from the Iranian warship IRIS Dena and the crew of the IRIS Booshehr, according to an internal State Department cable.

The US has reportedly asked Sri Lanka not to repatriate survivors from the Iranian warship IRIS Dena and the crew of the IRIS Booshehr, which is in Sri Lankan custody.