“Our technical investigations showed the two U.S. Navy boats entered Iranian territorial waters inadvertently”, the IRGC said in a statement carried by state television.
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He added that the Pentagon is still talking to the sailors to learn about “exactly what happened”. During a media briefing, Deputy Spokesperson for the State Department Mark Toner had said that during their detention, sailors were also given blankets, food and a place to sleep.
The news comes less than a month after US officials accused Iran of launching a “highly provocative” rocket test near USA boats passing through the Strait of Hormuz.
One of the sailors spoke to a reporter in Iran before being turned over to the U.S. Video released by Iran news agencies showed him saying the treatment was “fantastic”, and he thanked Iran for its hospitality and assistance.
He said “this trespassing was not hostile or for spying purposes”.
Instead, Iran and America moved quickly to defuse the situation – although Tehran could not resist humiliating its captives by broadcasting pictures of the USA personnel kneeling and with their hands on their heads.
What admirable “diplomatic” goal was served by forcing our sailors to their knees at gunpoint, and then publicly releasing the video thereof?
Iran released footage Wednesday showing an American sailor apologizing for unintentionally crossing into Iranian waters along with nine others. “It was a mistake, that was our fault and we apologise for our mistake”, he said.
The incident raised tensions between Iran and the USA, which, with other world powers, reached a deal previous year under which Iran will curb its nuclear activities in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions. “I hope that the incident… which probably won’t be the last mistake from American forces in the region, will be a lesson for stonewallers in the US Congress”.
U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter said he was pleased the sailors had been freed and appreciated “the timely way in which this situation was resolved”.
The U.S. military has said that mechanical trouble with one of the boats caused them to drift into Iranian territorial waters near the island, where they were picked up by Iran.
A new polemic video published by the Iranian State television appears to show some American sailors that were arrested on Tuesday. The U.S. Navy informed Iranian military vessels in the area they were coming in for a search-and-rescue, the official said.
The sailors were released after one night in captivity on Farsi, an Iranian island in the Gulf. Mr Kerry stressed the change in US-Iran relations. “When you have a problem with the boat, (do) you apologize the boat had a problem?”
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard has released ten US Navy troops who wandered into Iranian territorial waters on Tuesday.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) said in a statement Wednesday that the sailors had been released back into worldwide waters following a USA apology and clarifications that any incursion was “a mistake”.
“Following their apology, they have been released to worldwide waters in the Gulf”.
However, John Kirby, a State Department spokesman, said reports of an apology were false.
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Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif.
