Lanka rejects Iran’s food-and water-request for stranded vessels
- FM Herath warns suppliers of US secondary sanctions; says ships are outside territorial waters and govt is under no obligation to supply them
The government has declined a request by Iran to provide supplies to its stranded oil tankers outside Sri Lanka’s waters and cautioned private companies that they run the risk of facing secondary US sanctions if they provide these services.
Foreign Affairs Minister Vijitha Herath told the Sunday Times yesterday that a total of 47 foreign vessels are currently anchored off Sri Lanka’s territorial waters, and 15 of them have been positively identified as Iranian.
He said the vessels have been anchored off Sri Lanka for the past several months after the US resumed its naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, leaving dozens of Iranian vessels stranded and unable to return home. Given that the Iranian vessels are outside the country’s territorial waters, the Government of Sri Lanka is under no obligation to provide them any supplies, Minister Herath pointed out.
He confirmed that Iranian authorities had reached out to the government requesting the vessels to be provided with essential supplies such as food and water. “As a government,
we haven’t provided them (Iranian vessels) with anything so far, and we don’t intend to do so in the future either,” said Mr Herath. He denied that the government’s refusal to provide essential supplies to the Iranian vessels was due to pressure from the US government and insisted that the US has “not officially conveyed any message” relating to the stranded Iranian vessels. “Such supplies to vessels are usually provided by the private sector, and this is a matter for them,” the minister added.
Nevertheless, he noted that the Iranian vessels, which are empty crude oil tankers, are sanctioned by the US.As such, if any private company chooses to provide food, water and other essential supplies to them, risk being detected by the US, which could impose secondary sanctions on those companies. This could mean such a company could lose any business dealings it does with U.S. companies and may even lead them to being shut out of the US banking system, said Minister Herath.
“Therefore, we have informed the private sector that they should be extremely careful and act responsibly. Otherwise, they run the risk of falling foul of US sanctions,” the minister observed.
Meanwhile, the US Embassy recently conducted a series of workshops for Sri Lankan officials on maritime sanctions evasion and nuclear detection.
More than 40 officials took part in a workshop last month to strengthen Sri Lanka’s ability to detect and respond to maritime sanctions evasion that threatens US security interests and legitimate global commerce.
“Sri Lanka sits at a strategic crossroads for global commerce, bringing both tremendous opportunity and the need for vigilance,” US Ambassador Eric Meyer said in a statement.
The workshop was followed by a five-day training provided to Navy personnel last week on detecting and deterring nuclear smuggling.
US experts worked with Sri Lankan participants to develop standard operating procedures (SOPs) for nuclear smuggling detection operations, drawing on international best practices while ensuring procedures that align with Sri Lanka’s legislative and regulatory framework, the embassy said.
- https://www.sundaytimes.lk/261004/n...ater-request-for-stranded-vessels-659196.html
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