Sri Lanka's government spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella has told local reporters Columbo has a secret deal with Washington allowing it to import Iranian oil without running afoul of United States sanctions. The oil is being imported through third parties to cover the trail. “For instance, Malaysia supplied what happened to be Iranian oil. It's a very closed secret,” he said. In the past, U.S. officials have said Sri Lanka is abiding by the sanctions. However, Sri Lanka has a problem in that its only refinery, the 50,000-barrels-a-day Ceylon Petroleum Corp. plant, is not designed to handle the high-sulphur Iranian crude oil.
