Official dinner for Iranian president: Sajith explains why he did not attend

The state banquet hosted by President Ranil Wickremesinghe for Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and the absence of Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa on Wednesday turned out to be something the latter had to clarify considering the ongoing geopolitical and diplomatic tensions and the timing of the visit.

Certain media outlets reported that the opposition leader did not turn up to express “his protest” against Iran in the wake of recent tensions in West Asia, where only days before the presidential visit, Iran launched a missile attack on Israel after one of its diplomatic missions in Syria was targeted, and Israel retaliated with a strike on Iran.

Issuing a statement, the opposition leader's office said that if Mr. Premadasa took part in the state dinner, "there were plans by some journalists to publish fake reports claiming Ranil and Sajith are ready for a deal by utilising the opportunity."

"This was also one of the reasons why it was decided not to attend the dinner," the statement said, stressing that the office had indicated to the Iranian embassy in Colombo that the opposition leader was willing to meet the visiting president separately.

Meanwhile, Mr. Premadasa also took the matter to X, formerly known as Twitter, to mark his protest at some of the reasons given for his not attending the state banquet. He wrote, “I completely refute the malicious attempt by Ranil media which insinuates that I refused to meet with the Iranian president. As usual, the defeatist and morally bankrupt politicians are resorting to falsehoods to hoodwink the people of our country".