In one of the videos released Wednesday, the sailors are shown without their equipment or weapons, and one female soldier is shown wearing a hijab.
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There also were questions over whether the U.S. had offered an apology.
And while video surfaced on Iranian television purportedly showing one of the US sailors apologizing for the incident, the State Department maintains Kerry never offered an apology to Zarif on behalf of the USA government, and merely offered explanations for how the situation unfolded.
“If, during the interrogation, we find out that they were on an intelligence gathering mission, we will treat them differently”, a Guards spokesman said. “As we look at this, we’ll continue to assess and, as appropriate, comment further on how we view their treatment”.
Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook told The Associated Press that the riverine boats were moving between Kuwait and Bahrain when the USA lost contact with them.
Secretary of Defense Ash Carter released a statement regarding the release.
The official credited the relatively quick resolution of the situation to the relationship built up between the two countries over the course of the negotiations of the nuclear deal with Iran and said the situation “undoubtedly would have been more complicated to unwind”, in the absence of that framework.
The diplomatic scramble headed off a potential military confrontation.
The sailors were expected to be transferred to US custody Wednesday morning local time.
Mr. Kerry noted that until recently, the two sides hadn’t spoken in 35 years.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said the sailors were released Wednesday after it was determined that their entry was not intentional.
“I am pleased that ten U.S. Navy sailors have departed Iran and are now back in U.S. hands”, the statement reads. John McCain (R., Ariz.), chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
The US sailors who were held by Iran made a navigational mistake that led them into Iranian waters.
“While the Geneva Conventions may not formally apply here, the Iranian government actions would appear to be contrary to the intention of the Geneva Conventions”, Mr. Ross said.
Iranian territorial waters extend for three miles around Farsi Island, according to the official. Kerry “made it clear” that the most important thing was for the sailors to be released immediately and unharmed, the official said. The IRGC gave them food and blankets, Mr. Kerry said.
“They did not report this navigational error at the time”.
A senior US defense official says the 10 American sailors briefly held by Iran are heading to a USA military facility in Qatar and likely have already arrived there. The sailors were met by the USS Anzio were they received medical checks once aboard. “All the contributing factors to that we don’t know yet, and we’re still talking to those folks, and we’ll find out more… but they were clearly out of the position that they meant to be in”. Farsi Island sits in the Persian Gulf in between Iran and Saudi Arabia, and is fortified by Iranian Revolutionary Guards. In several calls, Mr. Kerry told Mr. Zarif: “if we are able to do this in the right way, we can make this into what will be a good story for both of us”, the official said.
The incident came on the heels of an incident in late December when Iran launched a rocket test near US warships and boats passing through the Strait of Hormuz.
State Department officials also say the incident involving the sailors will not have an impact on the final implementation of the nuclear deal, which Iranian officials have indicated will be coming soon.
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Aresu Eqbali, Asa Fitch, Colleen McCain Nelson and Carol E. Lee contributed to this article.
