By Humeyra Pamuk WASHINGTON, March 6 (Reuters) - The United States is pressing Sri Lanka's government not to repatriate the survivors from the Iranian warship it sank this week, as well as the crew of a second Iranian ship that is in Sri Lankan custody,

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake reviewed Iran’s request to allow the vessel into its waters for safety as tensions escalate after a US submarine attack killed 87 Iranian sailors near Galle

Sri Lanka said its navy rescued 32 survivors after a U.S. torpedo sunk Iranian warship IRIS Dena with 180 aboard. Crews recover 87 bodies from the wreckage.

Sri Lanka has taken control of a second Iranian vessel days after a U.S. submarine sank Iran’s warship IRIS Dena near the island’s coast. Speaking in Colombo, Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake confirmed that the ship is now under Sri Lankan custody and stressed that his country is not a party to the ongoing Iran-U.

The US sinking of an Iranian warship off Sri Lanka's coast, with more than 100 people reportedly missing or dead, has brought the Middle East conflict to the Indian Ocean, triggering international reactions and growing concern over the wider spillover of the joint US-Israeli military operation against Iran,