A naval expert who served as an officer with the USA 5th Fleet in Bahrain, said the Navy has a black eye after video surfaced showing a captured sailor apologizing for entering Iranian territorial waters. The incident has been described as the result of an unspecified error, possibly a mechanical failure on one of the boats or a mistake of navigation, and its significance was swiftly downplayed by the Obama administration, which predicted that the Iranians would release the 10 sailors within about a day’s time.
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Iranian state television today released video of one of the American sailors detained Tuesday apologizing following an incursion by two U.S. Navy boats into Iranian waters – a video that a U.S. military official said was “clearly” staged.
The crew, operating two small Navy Riverine boats, was on a routine trip between Kuwait and Bahrain when the Iranians approached and eventually boarded the US vessels, USA officials said.
Democrats who opposed the bill painted the legislation as a backdoor attempt to scuttle the agreement after Obama a year ago won enough support to prevent Congress from derailing it. But Iran’s actions have made Democrats uneasy, and they are urging the White House to hold Tehran accountable as promised when the agreement was being crafted.
The same Iranian state outlet that produced the sailor’s interview had previously released footage that appeared to show when the sailors were detained aboard their Riverine boats.
But it then became known the 10 sailors had been taken ashore and diplomatic efforts to get them out quickly kicked in. US officials lost touch with the vessels, which ended up in Iranian waters, near Farsi Island in the Persian Gulf.
When they were eventually released by the Iranians, the boats made their way back to the Guided Missile Destroyer USS Anzio, which was waiting for them nearby.
“It was a mistake, that was our fault, and we apologise for our mistake”, the sailor said on IRIB state TV. He said this was the scene as depicted by Iranian media and that he wants to hear from the US crews before commenting further.
But Kerry, Vice President Joe Biden and White House officials couldn’t wait to praise the Iranian regime, calling its response a “testament” to diplomacy.
Yet, if President Rouhani, his prestige enhanced by the nuclear deal, to which all five U.N. Security Council members have signed on, and with billions being released to Iran, wins, a brighter day will begin.
US Navy Cmdr. Gary Ross, a Pentagon spokesman, said the incident remained under investigation. “When you have a problem with the boat you apologize the boat had a problem? This was just standard nautical practice”.
Pelosi said the Obama administration has never appeased Iran and said the names of other Americans being held by Tehran are brought up at every meeting with Iranian officials.
CNN was quick to point out that there was not yet any way to tell whether these remarks were spontaneous on the part of the sailor, or whether they were elicited with Iranian prompting, or even under threat of torture or imprisonment.
“There were some concerns, including political and military consequences of the issue, and the government officials were also anxious about its affect on the nuclear deal and its implementation”, one of the Iranian officials said. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the sensitive incident publicly.
On Wednesday, these predictions proved generally accurate, although the sailors’ brief detention was still enough to give rise to new criticisms from Obama’s opponents regarding an arguably conciliatory foreign policy and disregard for a growing list of Iranian provocations. The sailor also added that the Iranians had behaved in a “fantastic” manner during the Americans’ detention and he thanked them for their “hospitality” and “assistance”.
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The incident raised tensions between Iran and the United States, which, along with other world powers, reached the deal under which Iran will curb its nuclear activities in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions.
