Sri Lanka and India are providing sanctuary to 434 sailors from three Iranian naval vessels targeted or threatened by the United States, a diplomatic conundrum as the US-Israel attack on Iran and the subsequent war spills into the Indian Ocean.
The ships had taken part in a naval exercise organised by India off the coast of Visakhapatnam, when the US and Israel began bombing Iran.
For Sri Lanka and India, wary of a US response, the dilemma of what to do with the ships and crew has sent legal officials scouring conventions and the laws of the sea.
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