India, March 5 -- Sri Lanka evacuated 208 crew members from the Iranian navy vessel IRIS Bushehr on Thursday, a day after a US submarine struck and sank another Iranian frigate, killing dozens of sailors, President Anura Kumara Dissanayake said.

The Sri Lankan Navy will take over the IRIS Bushehr and transfer it to the northeastern port of Trincomalee for safekeeping, amid concerns that the vessel could be targeted.

"We are not taking sides in this conflict, but while maintaining our neutrality we are taking action to save lives," Dissanayake said in a televised statement. "No person should die in a war like this. Every life is equally precious."

The Iranian crew and cadets aboard the ship, which had reported an engine fault, were tran...