President Anura Kumara Dissanayake says the request was made on February 26, two days before the US and Israel launched war on Iran.
Published on 20 March 2026
Sri Lanka’s president says his government rejected a request from the United States to land two American fighter planes at a civilian airport earlier this month.
President Anura Kumara Dissanayake told Sri Lanka’s parliament on Friday that Washington had sought permission to land at Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport in southern Sri Lanka from March 4 to 8.
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The request was made on February 26, two days before the US and Israel launched their military offensive against Iran.
“They wanted to bring two warplanes armed with eight antiship missiles from a base in Djibouti,” Dissanayake told MPs. “We rejected Sri Lanka’s request to maintain neutrality,” he said to applause.
The US-Israel war over Iran has caused widespread concern globally, as Iranian missile and drone attacks across the wider Middle East have sent energy prices soaring and fueled fears of wider conflict.
US President Donald Trump is also pressuring Washington’s allies to show more support for the war, calling NATO countries “cowards” for refusing to help secure the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran has essentially closed the vital Gulf waterway amid the war, forcing leaders around the world to try to navigate the impacts on their economies and energy supplies.
Amid the turmoil, several countries have refused to engage directly in the war, calling for an immediate de-escalation.
On Friday, Switzerland, citing its long-standing policy of neutrality, announced it would stop exporting any weapons to the US that could be used in military operations against Iran.
The Swiss government said, “The export of war material to countries involved in an international armed conflict with Iran cannot be authorized for the duration of the conflict.”
The Sri Lankan President also cited his country’s neutrality in his decision to reject a US request to land two planes at Mattala airport earlier this month.
Dissanayake said he had received another request on the same day, February 26, from Iran seeking permission for three naval ships to undertake a goodwill visit to Sri Lanka.
“With two requests before us, the decision was clear,” he said, adding that the government refused both to avoid taking sides as a sign of the escalating conflict.
“If we had said ‘yes’ to Iran, we would have had to say ‘yes’ to the US as well,” Dissanayake said.
In early March, the Sri Lankan Navy rescued 32 Iranian crew from the IRIS Dena after it was torpedoed by a US submarine off the country’s coast, killing at least 84 people.
A few days later, Sri Lanka evacuated more than 200 crew members from another Iranian ship, IRIS Bushehr, after the ship requested assistance from Colombo.
