The Guards have also seized British servicemen on two occasions, in 2004 and 2007, and a civilian British yacht crew in 2009. USA officials lost touch with the vessels, which ended up in Iranian waters, near Farsi Island in the Persian Gulf. They were expected to be transferred Wednesday to a USA ship in the region.
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The boats, known as riverine command boats, were en route from Kuwait to Bahrain.
Iran’s armed forces chief, Major General Hassan Firouzabadi, said the incident should demonstrate Iranian strength to “troublemakers” in the U.S. Congress, which has sought to put pressure on Iran after the nuclear deal.
Rear-Adm Ali Fadavi had earlier said the two US Navy boats had entered Iranian territorial waters due to a broken navigation system. US officials say the Department of Defense is debriefing the sailors about the videos and that it would be premature to say whether any Geneva violation had been committed.
When the incident was announced, thousands of Americans started debating about the relations among the US and Iran.
There is nothing to indicate the capture was a hostile act on the part of Iran, a senior Obama administration official said. Kerry “personally engaged with Zarif on this issue to try to get to this outcome”, the official said. The U.S. Secretary of State said at the National Defense University that the sailors have been provided with blankets and food and remarked how important is the role of diplomacy in order to maintain the country “safe, secure and strong”. In 2007, Iran captured 15 British Navy sailors and marines and held them for 13 days.
The Navy has given no indication that the 10 were injured or mistreated or that the weapons or equipment aboard the boats were tampered with while in Iranian custody.
The officials were not authorized to discuss the sensitive incident publicly so spoke on condition of anonymity.
USA officials communicated with the Iranian government immediately after the crews were detained and the matter came to a resolution.
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U.S. President Barack Obama did not mention the situation in his annual State of the Union speech Tuesday, but he did mention a nuclear agreement reached previous year between Tehran and Western powers, saying “the world has avoided another war”.
