Mujibur Rahuman questions delay over berthing of IRIS Dena

Colombo District SJB MP Mujibur Rahuman told Parliament on Thursday that the Iranian naval vessel that sank off Sri Lanka’s southern coast had sought permission to dock at the Port of Galle, but the government had failed to respond in time.

Rahuman said the Iranian Navy ship had participated in a multinational naval training exercise in India along with representatives from 74 countries, including Sri Lanka.

He said the vessel had left India, after the exercise, but altered its course due to escalating Middle East tensions and remained in waters, about 40 nautical miles off Sri Lanka, for nearly 11 hours, while awaiting permission to berth.

“The ship had requested permission to dock at Galle Harbour, but the government did not respond,” he said.

The MP further alleged that a US submarine, operating in the Gulf, had received information about the Iranian vessel and subsequently targeted the ship near Sri Lanka’s maritime zone.

He questioned why the authorities allowed the Iranian ship to remain at sea for 11 hours without a response and whether the delay was consistent with Sri Lanka’s obligations under international maritime conventions.

“We are bound by international law. Why was the Iranian vessel not allowed to berth at Galle Port? Why was there such a delay?” he asked.

Rahuman made the remarks in Parliament while commenting on the attack on the Iranian Navy ship IRIS Dena, off Sri Lanka’s southern coast, on Wednesday.

by Saman Indrajith

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When the self-righteous turn unspeakably brutal

Friday 6th March, 2026

Only about 35 crew members of an Iranian frigate survived a torpedo attack by the US, off Galle, on Wednesday. More than 100 Iranians are believed to be dead. The Sri Lanka Navy and Air Force rescued the survivors and brought ashore about 85 bodies of the victims of the US attack. The sinking of the Iranian naval vessel, the IRIS Dena, which was on a non-combat mission, and the brutal act of killing so many naval personnel, thousands of kilometres away from the conflict zone, must be condemned unreservedly.

The NPP government led by the JVP, which would condemn the US and the western bloc at the drop of a hat during its Opposition days, has not explicitly criticised Wednesday’s incident. The Opposition yesterday asked in Parliament whether the Iranian vessel had come under attack while waiting for permission to reach the Galle harbour. Its question went unanswered. The government resorted to prevarication.

It is believed that the US did not inform India of its move to launch Wednesday’s attack in the Indian Ocean. The sinking of the IRIS Dena, which was Indian Navy’s guest, has become not only a huge embarrassment but also as a strategic concern to New Delhi, for the attack was carried out in an area where India projects its dominance as a regional leader. Has a Quad member got short shrift from the US?

Most of all, the IRIS Dena was returning from India, where it took part in an international fleet review, together with vessels from 40 other nations including the US and Russia. The naval exercise was conducted in Visakhapatnam, where the Indian Navy’s Eastern Naval Command is headquartered. This has made the sinking of the IRIS Dena and the killing of its crew members even more unacceptable. Strangely, India has refrained from explicitly condemning the incident.

If the US thinks Iranian assets anywhere in the world are legitimate targets, can Iran be blamed for adopting a similar approach, in dealing with the US and its interests? The Middle East conflict is not going to end in a few weeks or months with the conclusion of the ongoing US-Israeli bombing spree. Iran has vowed to take revenge.

Much has been spoken about the Indian Ocean as a Zone of Peace during the past five decades or so, but it is fast becoming a conflict zone for all intents and purposes. The peace-zone doctrine is based on several core principles such as demilitarisation, non-aggression, freedom of navigation, removal of foreign bases, regional cooperation, and the promotion of international peace and security. It was intended to prevent smaller states from being dragged into conflicts that are not of their own making and preserve regional stability. Wednesday’s US submarine attack in Sri Lanka’s exclusive economic zone should be viewed against the backdrop of the Indian Ocean peace zone concept.

The expansion by the US of the theatre of its current military operations against Iran beyond the Gulf region and the presence of a US submarine in Sri Lanka’s exclusive economic zone pose a serious threat to international trade routes in this part of the world. This is why India’s position on the issue of offensive US military action in the Indian Ocean matters.

The NPP government also gave evasive answers when the Opposition demanded to know whether another Iranian naval ship in Sri Lanka’s exclusive economic zone was also in danger, and whether it would be given permission to enter Sri Lanka’s territorial waters. The civilised world must help Sri Lanka ensure that another Iranian vessel in imminent danger is not left to its fate and condemn the brutality of the self-righteous unequivocally.

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Embedding human rights, equity and integrity into business leadership

At its 2026 Social Sustainability Programme Kick-Off, the UN Global Compact Network Sri Lanka convened business leaders to advance the translation of global ambition into practical corporate action on inclusion, integrity and human rights.

On 24 February 2026, the UN Global Compact Network Sri Lanka (Network Sri Lanka) convened business leaders at Barefoot Garden Café for its 2026 Social Sustainability Programme Kick-Off, delivered in collaboration with Good Life X.

The gathering did more than introduce a calendar of events. It positioned Sri Lanka’s corporate community within the broader direction of the UN Global Compact’s 2026–2030 global strategy — a strategy anchored in three imperatives: equipping companies to act, catalyzing collective action, and advancing the business case for responsible leadership.

At its core, the 2026 Social Sustainability agenda is designed to move companies from commitment to capability.

Within the Diversity & Inclusion Working Group, this means building practical pathways toward equal pay for equal work and strengthening male allyship as a governance issue rather than a cultural afterthought. It means examining sexual and reproductive health, disability inclusion, and mental health not as employee benefits, but as structural determinants of productivity and retention. It means sharpening strategic communications so inclusion is embedded in brand integrity. It also means applying science-based behavioural change approaches to shift organizational culture in measurable ways.

Across the Business & Human Rights Working Group, equipping companies takes the form of deepened engagement on decent work and living wage implementation, strengthening human rights due diligence processes, and addressing emerging risk areas such as AI and digital rights. It extends to reinforcing business integrity and anti-corruption frameworks, understanding the social dimensions of a just transition, and recognizing the link between child rights, nutrition, and workforce productivity.

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Iran Embassy in Colombo opens condolence book

The Iranian Embassy in Colombo said that a condolence book will remain at the residence of the Iranian Ambassador at No 222, Bauddhaloka Mawatha, Colombo 7, on 04, 05 and 06 March, from 10 am to 5 pm, each day, to express sympathy and solidarity with Iran in the wake of US-Israel air attacks that killed His Eminence Sayyed Ali Khamenei on 28 February.

The message of condolences may also be sent electronically to the Embassy’s email: iranemb.cmb@mfa.gov.ir

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SLT Group reports strong FY 2025 performance driven by cost savings and efficiency

The SLT Group reported substantial cost savings for the full year ended 31 December 2025, fuelling significant profit growth and demonstrating consistent execution throughout all key metrics. The strong performance was driven through disciplined expense management, reduced finance costs, and strategic operational improvements.

Group Performance

The SLT Group ended FY 2025 as a strong year, with substantial improvement in profitability. Profit After Tax (PAT) surged 221% versus the previous year to Rs. 10 billion, compared to Rs. 3.1 billion in FY 2024, sustained through cost savings, reduced finance costs, and steady revenue growth for fixed and mobile segments.

Group revenue grew 3% to Rs. 114.2 billion, with SLT PLC contributing a 2% increase and Mobitel reporting a stronger 5% growth. Operating expenses (excluding depreciation and amortization) was Rs. 72 billion, resulting in a 5.5% improvement in EBITDA to Rs. 42.2 billion and a 26.9% increase in operating profit to Rs. 14.2 billion.

Finance costs continued to decline as the Group reduced debt and benefited from lower interest rates, contributing to an 88% increase in Profit Before Tax to Rs. 11.3 billion. Group interest costs decreased 21% to Rs. 7,054 million, primarily attributable to finance cost reduction at SLT PLC.

Dr. Mothilal de Silva, Chairman of the SLT Group, commented, “The SLT Group’s financial performance for FY 2025 underscores the effectiveness of our strategic direction and the robustness of our operations. Through stringent cost management and prudent financial stewardship, we delivered significant improvements in profitability while simultaneously advancing both our fixed and mobile businesses. This performance reinforces our commitment to leveraging the momentum of 2025 to drive sustainable long-term growth and strengthen stakeholder confidence. I extend my sincere gratitude to all our stakeholders, particularly our loyal customers, for their continued trust, and to our employees for their dedication and outstanding resilience.

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Bill Clinton's surprising response when grilled Trump and Epstein - 'no sexual spin'

Videos of Bill and Hillary Clinton answering questions about Epstein have been released.

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A world order defined by sheer madness

Monday 2nd March, 2026

We are witnessing a new world order that is anything but rules-based. The US has once again demonstrated that might is right. Big powers have placed themselves above international law and reduced the UN to a mere spectator.

US President Donald Trump has graduated from abductions to assassinations in dealing for foreign leaders he considers hostile. The US and Israel seem to think they have succeeded in engineering a regime collapse in Iran by assassinating Supreme Iranian Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and scores of others in a series of air strikes on Saturday. Those killings must be condemned unreservedly. President Trump has audaciously claimed in a social media post that a wicked man was eliminated. The question is whether those who ordered Saturday’s air strikes, killing many Iranian civilians, including schoolgirls, can consider themselves any less wicked.

If history is anything to go by, air strikes alone cannot bring down long-established systems, and there is no guarantee that the toppling of a repressive regime always yields positive results and helps bring order out of chaos. Iraq and Libya may serve as examples. They remain fragmented and are in a far worse situation than they were under Saddam Hussain and Muammar Gadhafi respectively. The US and its allies plunged those two countries into anarchy in the name of eliminating repressive regimes.

The US and Israel are accused of waging a diversionary war for the benefit of President Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Both of them are facing scandals at home. Trump is troubled by a renewed scrutiny of the Epstein files and a Supreme Court judgment preventing him from imposing tariffs according to his whims and fancies. Netanyahu is facing bribery and fraud charges, and will be in serious trouble if voted out of power. He has to cling on to power at any cost. Fighting wars purportedly to save Israel seems to be the only way he thinks he can keep his political enemies at bay at home.

Iran has threatened to destroy Israel and the US, but its military capabilities are limited, as is known to military experts. It would never have taken on the US militarily or done anything fraught with the danger of triggering disproportionate military retaliation. It has been nowhere near developing nuclear weapons. The casus belli that Trump and Netanyahu used to attack Iran reminds us of the falsified intelligence dossiers President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair unashamedly produced in a bid to justify the invasion of Iraq. They said Saddam Hussain had stockpiled weapons of mass destruction, but they could not trace any.

The current Iranian regime, whose crackdown on protesters claimed thousands of lives, has weakened international opposition to US aggression significantly. However, some prominent Democrats have already condemned Trump’s bombing spree. U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin has pointed out that Trump’s military action is illegal in that according to the US Constitution, if the President wants to start a war, the Congress, elected by the people, needs to sign off on it. He has said the Senate needs to come back immediately to vote on Trump’s senseless and illegal bombings. The Republicans have defended Trump’s military aggression, claiming that it is in the interests of the Iranian people.

One can only hope that the US Congress and judiciary will make Trump act with restraint.

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Adopt QR remedy

The escalation of the Middle East conflict has triggered panic buying of fuel in Sri Lanka. Long lines of vehicles could be seen near fuel stations in various parts of the country at the time of going to press. The Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) had to step up fuel supply yesterday while claiming to have fuel stocks sufficient for more than one month and urging the public not to panic. The raging conflict is bound to affect the global fuel supply, and this is why Sri Lankans have panicked.

There is no reason to doubt the veracity of the CPC’s claim that it has sufficient fuel stocks, but panic buyers are impervious to reason. Unless hoarders are kept at bay, the CPC will run out of its stocks soon. One may recall that during the 2022 economic crisis, pumps ran dry at most filling stations mainly due to excessive hoarding. Rationing helped bring the situation under control.

The only way to stem the current wave of panic buying of fuel is to activate the QR-based fuel issuance system. Unless the government adopts that method forthwith and arrests panic buying, hoarders will have a field day and create a fuel shortage.

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