<p>Sri Lankan authorities said on Friday they were escorting a second Iranian naval vessel to harbour and moving 208 of its crew to a camp, two days after a US submarine sank an Iranian <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tags/warships">warship</a> in the same area.</p><p>President Anura Kumara Dissanayake said his island nation had a "humanitarian responsibility" to take in the crew, as the US and Israeli war with Iran raged, wreaking havoc on global markets and disrupting trade and travel.</p><p>The Sri Lankan Navy identified the second Iranian ship as naval auxiliary vessel IRIS Booshehr.</p><p><strong>Second Iran ship had engine problems</strong></p><p>Iranian sailors were seen dragging suitcases and carrying bags as they disembarked in <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tags/sri-lanka">Sri Lanka</a>, in pictures shared by the Presidential Media Division.</p><p>Other images showed Sri Lankan navy tug boats and naval vessels approaching the Booshehr, which Dissanayake earlier said would be moved to the Trincomalee harbour on the eastern coast.</p><p>"About 15 crewmen are still aboard the Iranian ship to help with navigation," a Sri Lankan government source said.</p><p>The ship was experiencing engine problems, that source and another government official said. Both asked not to be named given the sensitivity of the issue.</p><p>The crew was brought to the port in Sri Lanka's commercial capital Colombo where they had medical check-ups and were then moved in groups to a navy camp in Welisara, about 18 km (10 miles) away, the officials added.</p>.Sri Lanka lets second Iranian ship dock in Trincomalee, evacuates 208 on board.<p>The defence ministry declined to comment and the navy spokesman's office could not be reached.</p><p><strong>Iran thanks Sri Lanka</strong></p><p>The ship Booshehr, which had found itself stranded in Sri Lanka's exclusive economic zone outside its maritime boundary, reached the area a day after the Iranian warship IRIS Dena was sunk while returning from India after a naval exercise.</p><p>Dena was hit by a torpedo from a US submarine in the Indian Ocean, about 19 nautical miles off Sri Lanka's coast, killing 87 people on board and dramatically widening the scope of the US-Israeli war on Iran.</p><p>Iran's foreign minister thanked Sri Lanka for helping rescue survivors from the warship.</p><p>"That vessel ... was ceremonial, unloaded, unarmed," Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Saeed Khatibzadeh told reporters in New Delhi, where he is attending a conference.</p><p>Both Washington and <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tags/tehran">Tehran</a> are key trade partners for Sri Lanka. The United States accounts for about 40% of its apparel exports and Iran is one of its main tea buyers.</p>
<p>Sri Lankan authorities said on Friday they were escorting a second Iranian naval vessel to harbour and moving 208 of its crew to a camp, two days after a US submarine sank an Iranian <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tags/warships">warship</a> in the same area.</p><p>President Anura Kumara Dissanayake said his island nation had a "humanitarian responsibility" to take in the crew, as the US and Israeli war with Iran raged, wreaking havoc on global markets and disrupting trade and travel.</p><p>The Sri Lankan Navy identified the second Iranian ship as naval auxiliary vessel IRIS Booshehr.</p><p><strong>Second Iran ship had engine problems</strong></p><p>Iranian sailors were seen dragging suitcases and carrying bags as they disembarked in <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tags/sri-lanka">Sri Lanka</a>, in pictures shared by the Presidential Media Division.</p><p>Other images showed Sri Lankan navy tug boats and naval vessels approaching the Booshehr, which Dissanayake earlier said would be moved to the Trincomalee harbour on the eastern coast.</p><p>"About 15 crewmen are still aboard the Iranian ship to help with navigation," a Sri Lankan government source said.</p><p>The ship was experiencing engine problems, that source and another government official said. Both asked not to be named given the sensitivity of the issue.</p><p>The crew was brought to the port in Sri Lanka's commercial capital Colombo where they had medical check-ups and were then moved in groups to a navy camp in Welisara, about 18 km (10 miles) away, the officials added.</p>.Sri Lanka lets second Iranian ship dock in Trincomalee, evacuates 208 on board.<p>The defence ministry declined to comment and the navy spokesman's office could not be reached.</p><p><strong>Iran thanks Sri Lanka</strong></p><p>The ship Booshehr, which had found itself stranded in Sri Lanka's exclusive economic zone outside its maritime boundary, reached the area a day after the Iranian warship IRIS Dena was sunk while returning from India after a naval exercise.</p><p>Dena was hit by a torpedo from a US submarine in the Indian Ocean, about 19 nautical miles off Sri Lanka's coast, killing 87 people on board and dramatically widening the scope of the US-Israeli war on Iran.</p><p>Iran's foreign minister thanked Sri Lanka for helping rescue survivors from the warship.</p><p>"That vessel ... was ceremonial, unloaded, unarmed," Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Saeed Khatibzadeh told reporters in New Delhi, where he is attending a conference.</p><p>Both Washington and <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tags/tehran">Tehran</a> are key trade partners for Sri Lanka. The United States accounts for about 40% of its apparel exports and Iran is one of its main tea buyers.</p>