Sri Lanka declined ground access to two US combat aircraft, president says

By Uditha Jayasinghe

March 20, 2026

COLOMBO, March 20 (Reuters) - Sri Lanka declined permission for two U.S. combat aircraft to land at a civilian airport earlier this month, President Anura ​Kumara Dissanayake told parliament on Friday.

The U.S. had requested permission ‌for the two aircraft to land at the Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport in the southern part of the country from March 4-8, Dissanayake told lawmakers.

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"They wanted to bring two ​warplanes armed with eight anti-ship missiles from a base in Djibouti," ​he said during a statement.

"We turned down the request to ⁠maintain Sri Lanka's neutrality," he added to applause from parliamentarians.

The U.S. had ​made the request on February 26. The same day Iran requested three ​of its ships to make a goodwill visit to Sri Lanka from March 9-13 after participating in an Indian naval exercise. That request was also denied.

The U.S. and Israel launched attacks on ​Iran on February 28, leading to a regional war that has severely ​restricted energy supplies and rattled markets.

"We were considering this request. Had we said 'yes' to Iran, ‌we ⁠would have had to say 'yes' to the U.S. as well," he added.

Sri Lanka's navy rescued 32 Iranian crew off IRIS Dena on March 4 after it was torpedoed by a U.S. submarine, in an attack that killed at least ​84.

A second ship, IRIS Booshehr, ​and its crew ⁠were rescued by the Sri Lankan navy after it developed technical issues just beyond the island nation's territorial ​waters.

U.S. Special Envoy for South and Central Asia Sergio Gor ​is currently ⁠visiting Sri Lanka and met Dissanayake on Thursday.

Sri Lanka, which is recovering from a severe financial crisis that peaked in 2022 and was caused by ⁠a shortfall ​of dollars, faces a supply squeeze linked ​to the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran.

The U.S. is Sri Lanka's largest export market while Iran is ​one of its key tea buyers.

_{Reporting by Uditha Jayasinghe; Editing by Sharon Singleton}