WASHINGTON (AP) Ten U.S. Navy sailors detained by Tehran after their two boats drifted into Iranian waters are expected to be released Wednesday, according to an Iranian official.
Advertisement
Iran said early Wednesday that it had released 10 usa sailors that were detained on Tuesday “for crossing into Iranian territorial waters”.
Meanwhile, Fadavi told state television Wednesday that a US aircraft carrier in the Gulf had acted “provocatively and unprofessionally” for 40 minutes by carrying out air and sea maneuvers after Iran arrested the American sailors.
It was not certain where the sailors where being held, but USA officials said that their ships ran aground near Farsi Island, in the Persian Gulf because of undetermined equipment failures.
Multiple Iranian news outlets quoted a statement from the Iranian Revolutionary Guard as saying all 10 USA personnel had been released.
The statement also said the Navy would “investigate the circumstances that led to the Sailors’ presence in Iran”. Having launched from the Type 22 frigate HMS Cornwall in two rigid inflatable boats they were taken into custody while conducting anti-smuggling operations.
One of the 10 sailors is a woman.
D’Agata reported the American sailors were said to have been interrogated Wednesday morning by Revolutionary Guard forces on Farsi Island. He went on to say the issue is quote “being resolved”.
US Secretary of State John Kerry (right) talks with Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif in 2014.
Zarif demanded a formal apology for the breach of Iranian sovereignty, Fadavi said.
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 past year between Tehran and Western powers, saying “the world has avoided another war”.
The detention comes as Iran is implementing its end of the nuclear agreement, which will see it largely give up its uranium enrichment program in exchange for an end to billions in worldwide sanctions.
It was the latest reported incident between USA and Iranian forces in the Gulf in recent weeks.
Advertisement
The boats along with the soldiers on board were detained and taken into the custody of the Revolutionary Guard of Iran. Fox News claimed that they strayed into Iranian waters. The Guard’s Navy confiscated the sailors” Global Positioning System equipment to “prove that American ships were “snooping’ around in Iranian waters”, according to The New York Times.
