How the war on Iran struck the shores of Sri Lanka

SCMP | March 14, 2026, 5:30 p.m. | Original

Injured Iranian sailors are seen at Galle National Hospital on March 5, following a submarine attack on the Iranian military ship IRIS Dena off the coast of Sri Lanka. Photo: Reuters

There are places in the world where you expect war to intrude. And then there are places where its arrival feels surreal.

For me, the Sri Lankan city of Galle has always belonged firmly to the latter category. The old fort, perched above the Indian Ocean, has the feel of a tropical cousin to Cartagena’s walled city. Inside its ramparts is an improbable mix: Western expatriates, boutique hotels, a long-standing local Muslim community and wealthy Sri Lankans who have restored colonial houses into elegant homes and guest houses. The streets are lined with cafes, bookshops, jewellers and art galleries.

It is a place I associate with holidays, with long evenings by the sea, literature and refreshing gin and tonics, rather than geopolitics. During the Covid-19 pandemic, I spent extended periods of time near Galle. Only last year, I returned to the internationally renowned Galle Literary Festival, where I had the pleasure of a public conversation with the distinguished human rights lawyer and author Philippe Sands.

And yet, on March 4, it did .

Just off the southern coast of Sri Lanka, near Galle, the US sank an Iranian naval vessel, reportedly a frigate that had been transiting the region. US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth publicly celebrated the strike as a successful military operation.

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