A special flight operated by privately owned Iranian airline Meraj Airlines, using an Airbus A300 (EP-SIG), departed Sri Lanka for Iran last night (14), repatriating more than 200 Iranian nationals.
The group had been accommodated at the Welisara and Koggala Detention Centres prior to their departure.
According to Deputy Minister of Defence, Major General (Retd) Aruna Jayasekara, the passengers included 32 crew members rescued from the Iranian Navy vessel IRIS Dena, as well as 208 crew members from IRIS Bushehr, who had been temporarily housed in Sri Lanka.
