The Sri Lankan military has rescued at least 30 people on board a sinking Iranian ship near Sri Lankan waters on Wednesday, the country’s foreign minister told parliament.

The Sri Lankan navy dispatched a rescue mission after a distress call from the Iranian ship, a defence ministry spokesperson said earlier on Wednesday.

Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath said two Sri Lankan navy vessels and an aircraft were deployed for the rescue operation, but did not say what caused the Iranian warship to sink.

Herath did not give further details but said Sri Lanka would take appropriate action.

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Local media reported that the ship reported distress off the coast of Galle in the southern part of the country, and that the injured had been admitted to a hospital in Galle.

An opposition legislator asked in parliament whether the vessel had been bombed as part of the ongoing US-Israeli attacks against Iran, but there was no immediate response from the government.
Navy spokesman Buddhika Sampath said their operation was in line with Sri Lanka’s maritime obligations.

“We responded to the distress call under our international obligations, as this is within our Search and Rescue Area in the Indian Ocean,” Sampath told AFP.

Local officials said the main hospital in Galle, 115 kilometres (70 miles) south of the capital, had been placed on alert to receive the evacuated sailors.