Last month, Iran’s ambassador to Sri Lanka Alireza Delkhosh said Tehran was in talks with Colombo to repatriate sailors from the IRIS Bushehr which was given safe harbour in Sri Lanka after the IRIS Dena was sunk.
Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake said the island provided protection to the Bushehr crew on humanitarian grounds in line with the 1907 Hague Convention.
It was not immediately clear on what basis the sailors from the second Iranian vessel were allowed to leave Sri Lankan custody.
Sri Lanka has refused permission for US warplanes to use ground facilities in the country in order to maintain Colombo’s neutrality.
A third Iranian ship – the IRIS Lavan, with 183 crew members – sought shelter in India’s Kochi port in early March.
More than 100 non-essential crew of the IRIS Lavan have since left India.
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