In a statement after the release, Defense Secretary Carter said “we appreciate the timely way in which this situation was resolved” and he thanked Secretary of State Kerry for his contacts with his Iranian counterpart on freeing the boats and the sailors.
Advertisement
The nine men and one woman were held at an Iranian base on Farsi Island after they were detained nearby on Tuesday.
“After determining that their entry into Iran’s territorial waters was not intentional and their apology, the detained American sailors were released in worldwide waters of the Persian Gulf”, a statement posted online by the Guard said.
IRAN has released video of 10 American sailors who were detained by Iran overnight aboard their two US Navy patrol boats in the Gulf.
“I want to express my gratitude to Iranian authorities for their cooperation in swiftly resolving this matter”, Kerry said in a statement.
“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”, an official at U.S. Central Command said.
The sailor appears in the video saying he’s sorry that he and his crewmates entered Iranian waters in the gulf, which us officials said occurred due to a mechanical problem.
The two vessels were on their way from Kuwait to the USA naval base in Bahrain, when they experienced mechanical problems and drifted into Iranian waters, according to the Pentagon.
During the morning of January 13, officials questioned the sailors to see whether they “entered Iranian waters intentionally on an intelligence mission”, the IRGC said, according to state-run Press TV. He adds that the shipment “more than tripled our previous timeline of two to three months for Iran to be able to acquire enough weapons-grade uranium for one weapon”.
The sailors were released Wednesday after spending a day in detention.
“I am relieved to hear that the ten U.S. Navy sailors that Iran captured have been returned. Our officials made a decision to release them, and the detained [sailors] were released in global waters”, he continued.
“Today, an Iranian general said this incident should serve as a warning to ‘troublemakers in the U.S. Congress.’ As one of those ‘troublemakers, ‘ I take his words seriously”. Iran demanded an apology and is claiming it got one, though the US denies that.
When asked whether forcing the sailors to put their hands over their heads was a violation of the Geneva Convention, State Department spokesman Mark Toner said that taking video or images or prisoners of war could be a violation of the convention.
The videos also showed an Iranian poring through what appeared to be passports taken from the crew. This shows the world – and it will open some eyes around the world – this president, even when they have improperly taken our soldiers and have had them hold their hands behind their heads, this president still sucks up to those that mistreat America.
The quick moves by the Revolutionary Guard also suggested that Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, sought to keep the detention from overshadowing regional affairs, including the nuclear deal.
It comes at a sensitive time, amid reports that a deal on Iran’s nuclear activities is just days away from implementation.
Advertisement
On Tuesday, Kerry’s team first learned that the sailors had been detained about an hour before a scheduled call between Kerry and Zarif.
