Sri Lanka will repatriate the remains of 84 Iranian sailors killed when their naval frigate was sunk by a United States submarine earlier this month, officials said.

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Sri Lanka, the sailors died when the Iranian frigate IRIS Dena was torpedoed on March 4 near Sri Lanka’s coast. The incident has raised tensions as the Middle East conflict spreads toward the Indian Ocean.

A spokesperson for the ministry, Thushara Rodrigo, said Sri Lanka had completed all procedures required for the repatriation.

However, 32 sailors rescued by the Sri Lankan Navy will remain in Sri Lanka for the time being.

Officials said the embalmed remains, placed in sealed coffins, will depart from Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport in southern Sri Lanka.

By Friday afternoon, the first batch of 46 bodies had already arrived at the airport ahead of the arrival of an Iranian chartered cargo aircraft.

Authorities recovered the bodies from the Indian Ocean after the naval attack.

Autopsies conducted in Galle hospital

Medical officials transported the bodies to Karapitiya Teaching Hospital in Galle, about 115 kilometres south of Colombo, where doctors carried out autopsies.

A local magistrate later ordered that the remains be released to the Iranian embassy in Colombo so they could be returned to the victims’ families.

Meanwhile, the Embassy of Iran in Colombo had not issued an official comment at the time of reporting.