Sri Lanka rescues sailors from sinking Iranian ship

Sri Lanka rescued 30 sailors aboard the Iranian frigate Iris Dena, which was sinking on Wednesday just outside the island's territorial waters, Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath said.

No information was immediately available on the cause of the vessel's problems, but Herath told parliament that the injured sailors were taken to a hospital in the island's south.

The 180-crew frigate had issued a distress call at dawn.

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.

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.