Sri Lanka, keen not to take sides, sends home Iranian survivors of US torpedo attack

NewsWorldMiddle EastSri Lanka, keen not to take sides, sends home Iranian survivors of US torpedo attackSri Lanka's President Anura Kumara Dissanayake declined two requests on the same day — one from the U.S. to land military aircraft and another from Iran Ap Correspondent Friday 17 April 2026 11:43 BSTBookmarkCommentsGo to commentsBookmark popoverRemoved from bookmarksClose popover{"translations":{"comments":"Go to comments","share":"Share","copyLink":"Copy link","bookmark":"Bookmark","removeBookmark":"Remove bookmark"},"showComments":true,"showBookmark":true,"articleId":"b2959737","articleMeta":{"url":"https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/sri-lanka-iran-us-soldiers-b2959737.html","title":"Sri Lanka, keen not to take sides, sends home Iranian survivors of US torpedo attack"}}open image in gallery{"id":"trigger-autogallery-9246","index":0}This handout photograph taken on March 5, 2026 and released by the Sri Lankan Navy on March 6, 2026 shows the Iranian ship IRIS Bushehr after a US submarine attack, off the coast of Colombo (Sri Lankan Navy)On The Ground newsletter: Get a weekly dispatch from our international correspondentsGet a weekly dispatch from our international correspondentsGet a weekly international news dispatchEmail*SIGN UPI would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our Privacy notice{"className":"sc-1ge0fwe-0","newsletterData":{"regSourceNewsletter":"IND_On_The_Ground_Newsletter","regTitle":"On The Ground","subscriptionGroup":"on_the_ground","subscriptionGroupId":"14806361-6435-4d19-b06e-05326605fb01","pathPrefix":["/news/world/europe","/news/world/middle-east","/news/world/australasia","/news/world/africa","/asia"],"associatedAuthors":["Bel Trew","Sam Kiley"],"title":"On The Ground newsletter: Get a weekly dispatch from our international correspondents","mobileTitle":"Get a weekly international news dispatch","lengthenedMobileTitle":"Get a weekly dispatch from our international correspondents",...