Sri Lanka refused permission for the U.S. to land two of its warplanes in the island’s southeast Mattala International Airport in early March, President Anura Kumara Dissanayake told Parliament on Friday (March 20, 2026). Also Read | U.S. pressing Sri Lanka not to repatriate Iranian crew and survivors from sunken ship, memo saysMr. Dissanayake said that two U.S. warplanes from Djibouti asked for permission to come to Sri Lanka on March 4 and 8. “They wanted to bring in two warplanes armed with eight anti-ship missiles from base in Djibouti to the Mattala International Airport and we said no,” the Sri Lankan President said. Two days later, a second Iranian vessel, Iris Bushehr, sought entry to Colombo port with 219 sailors. Sri Lanka asked the vessel to be diverted to the eastern port of Trincomalee from its anchor outside the port here.

Source: The Hindu March 20, 2026 15:23 UTC