PRESIDENT AKD SPEAKS – BUSHEHR, HUMANITY AND A DELICATE BALANCE

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake addressed the nation last evening in a special statement after confirmation that the Iranian naval support ship IRINS Bushehr is currently near Sri Lanka’s maritime boundary seeking assistance.

The President’s message was measured and deliberate.
Sri Lanka, he said, will prioritise the protection of human life and act within the framework of international maritime law while carefully safeguarding the country’s neutrality in the wider conflict unfolding between Iran and the United States.

Be that as it may, the situation places Colombo in an uncomfortable but unavoidable position.

The vessel is reported to be within Sri Lanka’s Exclusive Economic Zone but outside territorial waters, meaning the government must balance humanitarian obligations with geopolitical sensitivity.

The crew aboard the Bushehr is believed to number more than one hundred sailors.

President Dissanayake made clear that Sri Lanka is not a party to the conflict and has no intention of becoming one.
The Sri Lanka Navy, he said, is monitoring the situation closely while authorities consider what assistance may be required for the vessel and its crew. Any intervention, the President emphasised, will be strictly humanitarian.