Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath denied reports that Iranian vessels had entered Sri Lanka’s territorial waters, saying authorities were monitoring several vessels operating in international waters near the country.
Speaking at the post-Cabinet media briefing, Herath said authorities had identified 47 vessels in the vicinity of Sri Lanka, including some Iranian vessels, but that they remained outside the country’s territorial waters.
“There are 47 vessels that have been identified in the vicinity. They are not only Iranian vessels. Some belong to Iran, but they are beyond Sri Lanka’s territorial waters and are in international waters,” Herath said.
He said vessels from countries including Thailand and Malaysia were also operating in the area, adding that it was not unusual for commercial vessels to remain in international waters.
“As the Sri Lankan government, we have neither received any request for these vessels to enter our waters nor have we granted any permission for them to do so,” he said.
Journalists at the briefing, however, said some of the vessels had been within Sri Lanka’s 12-nautical-mile territorial sea last week, at distances of between 11.4 and 11.6 nautical miles from the coast, before subsequently moving to about 24 nautical miles.
Herath maintained that, according to observations by Sri Lankan authorities, the vessels had not crossed into the country’s territorial waters.
“The U.S. Embassy in Colombo informed the Foreign Ministry that there were several Iranian vessels and asked whether we were aware of them and whether they were being monitored. The Defence and Ports ministries were accordingly notified, and the vessels are being monitored. They are not in our waters,” he said.
Media reports had earlier said several Iranian-flagged vessels were positioned off Sri Lanka near the country’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) amid U.S. restrictions.
The Sri Lanka Navy has said the vessels were in the vicinity of the country’s EEZ but remained outside its sovereign territorial waters and therefore did not fall under Sri Lanka’s direct jurisdiction.
Sri Lanka’s territorial sea extends up to 12 nautical miles from its baseline. (Newswire)