Sri Lanka court orders 84 Iranian sailor handed to Russian Embassy

A Sri Lankan court has ordered the bodies of 84 sailors killed in an attack on an Iranian warship off the island nation's coast last week be handed over to the embassy of Iran, local media reported on Wednesday.



The warship, IRIS ⁠Dena, was hit by a torpedo from a U.S. submarine while it was returning from a naval exercise organised by India, amid the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran .



The court order was issued on Wednesday following a request from the Galle Harbour Police in the southern port city of Galle.



The bodies are currently at the morgue in Galle's National Hospital.



Sri Lanka has also granted 30-day entry visas to 208 crew members from a second Iranian vessel who were taken in by the South Asian country after the vessel experienced engine problems in the same region, according to Deputy Defence Minister Aruna Jayasekera.



The Sri Lankan foreign ministry is in touch with the Iranian embassy in Colombo about the crew and the mission is in turn consulting Tehran.