Sri Lanka isa US regional ally, and America remains the small south Asian nation'slargest export market,accountingfor nearly $3 billion of the $11.7 billion of goods Sri Lanka exports annually.

But tensions are soaring over the Iran war, and especially in the wake of a US submarine having torpedoed the Iranian warship IRIS Dena just off Sri Lanka's southern coast earlier this month - killing dozens of sailors and forcing Sri Lankan authorities into a rescue operation that recovered bodies and pulled survivors from the water.

And now, the country's president Anura Kumara Dissanayake has revealed he previouslyformally rejected a request from Washington to allow two US fighter jets to land at Mattala International Airport.

According toAl Jazeera, "Speaking in parliament, Dissanayake said Colombo received separate requests on February 26 – one from Iran seeking permission for three naval vessels to make a goodwill visit, and another from the US requesting landing clearance for two fighter aircraft stationed near Djibouti to land at Mattala international airport."

This was mere days prior to the start of Operation Epic Fury, in the immediate run-up to the US and Israeli bombardment of Iran. "With two requests before us, the decision was clear," he said, emphasizing the move as part of national neutrality on the Iran issue.

But the presidentalso revealed the government had rejected Iranian requestfor naval access just days before the war erupted.

"With two requests before us, the decision was clear," he told parliament, while explaining Sri Lanka's intent to stay out of the foreign war.

The US State Department has tallied that "U.S. assistance to Sri Lanka has totaled more than $2 billion since Sri Lanka’s independence in 1948." With all of this past aid, it's possible the Trump administration will be reassessing.

According to further background from theNY Times:

Under normal circumstances, the American request would not have been unusual. Sri Lanka and the United States have had military ties for decades, and the island nation is strategically important for U.S. goals in the Indo-Pacific region.

Source: ZeroHedge News