Hundreds of sailors and officers from the Iranian IRIS Bushehr naval vessel, an auxiliary ship that accompanied the IRIS Dena warship that was sunk by the US last week, abandoned the ship and fled to Sri Lanka, a former Sri Lankan navy official told Iran International.

The ship, carrying 208 naval personnel, including 53 officers and 84 officer cadets, docked at the Colombo Port on March 5 and requested humanitarian assistance due to an “engine technical malfunction.”

However, according to the former official, the “malfunction” was an excuse designed to facilitate a “mass escape” by the crew due to a “deep collapse of their trust in the Islamic Republic amid the current war in Iran.”

The official said that the entire crew abandoned the ship. They were transferred to the Welisara naval base and under the custody of local authorities.

(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)