India has repatriated the non-essential crew members of an Iranian warship that docked in Kochi earlier this month amid the escalating military conflict between Iran and the United States, PTI reported on Saturday, citing people familiar with the matter.
More than 50 of the vessel’s 183 crew members have stayed back as the ship, IRIS Lavan, continues to remain docked in Kochi, the sources said.
According to the report, the non-essential sailors departed India on a Turkish airline flight. The aircraft landed in Kochi late on Friday night after first picking up the bodies of over 80 Iranian sailors in Colombo. The sailors were from another Iranian warship that was sunk by a US submarine off the coast of Sri Lanka on March 4.
IRIS Lavan has been stationed in Kochi since March 4 after developing urgent technical issues. The vessel was granted emergency docking approval on March 1 following a request from the Iranian side.
Sources told PTI that the remaining Iranian sailors are expected to travel to Iran via Armenia, likely by road from the capital city, Yerevan.
The repatriation comes as New Delhi works to ensure safe passage for more than two dozen Indian-flagged merchant vessels currently positioned on either side of the Strait of Hormuz amid rising tensions in West Asia.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar also spoke with his Iranian counterpart Seyed Abbas Araghchi on Thursday night, the fourth such conversation since the regional crisis erupted.
(With inputs from PTI)