Two U.S. Navy boats were detained by Iran on Tuesday due to apparent mechanical problems that had supposedly sent the boats drifting into Iranian waters.
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Kerry, who forged a personal relationship with Zarif through three years of nuclear negotiations, called his Iranian counterpart immediately on learning of the incident, according to a senior US official.
The officials said it’s unclear whether the 10 American sailors aboard two small riverine vessels had strayed into Iranian territorial waters before they were captured.
US Secretary of State John Kerry thanked Iranian authorities for their cooperation in the release of US Navy sailors. “Today this kind of issue was able to be peacefully resolved and efficiently resolved, and that is a testament to the critical role that diplomacy plays in keeping our country safe”.
US officials said the incident happened in the Persian Gulf near Farsi Island, located about halfway between the gulf coast of Saudi Arabia and the Iranian mainland.
Reuters reports Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) freed the men after determining that the sailors had entered the waters by accident.
Video footage showed the Navy personnel with their hands on their heads as they were apprehended, and Iranian troops picking through an array of weapons found aboard their boats.
Tuesday’s incident follows Iran’s launch of a test rocket near United States warships passing through the Strait of Hormuz in late December.
Tension over the deal have remained in the US, where it is opposed by Republicans, as well as Iran, where it has been opposed by conservative factions including officers of the Revolutionary Guard.
Iran moved yesterday to head off a potential crisis days before the expected implementation of its nuclear deal with world powers by releasing 10 US Navy soldiers it had detained in the Gulf.
A US military official said: “Clearly this staged video exhibits a sailor making an apology in an unknown context as an effort to defuse a tense situation and protect his crew”.
“The first concern was recovering the sailors, the second is ensuring they get the best care they can get and successfully reintegrate into the force, and third is understanding the circumstances of the incident”, Stephens said.
“When you have a problem with a boat, do you apologize that the boat had problems?”
A US official told Fox News that the sailors were initially taken to the guided-missile cruiser USS Anzio before flying to the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman for additional debriefing. There is no looking for an apology.
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The detention comes as Iran is implementing its end of the nuclear agreement, which will see it largely give up its uranium enrichment program in exchange for an end to billions in global sanctions. “This was just standard nautical practice”.
