As Iran races to satisfy the terms of last summer’s nuclear deal and the USA prepares to suspend sanctions on Tehran as early as Friday, Kerry is talking to Zarif more than any other foreign leader. “Iran and US relations will stay where they are – the intention of this deal hasn’t been about trust-building”. USA officials say the Department of Defense is debriefing the sailors about the videos and that it would be premature to say whether any Geneva violation had been committed.
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Initial Iranian reports said the USA sailors had been “snooping” three miles inside Iranian waters when they were apprehended and taken to Farsi Island, site of a base of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in the Persian Gulf.
The Iranian government, meanwhile, wants to make sure it gets the billions of dollars in sanctions relief from a finalized nuclear deal.
“At this point, I would not have any reason to think that this incident would have an impact on the implementation of the worldwide agreement to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon”. Iranian state television later released footage of one of the detained men, identified as a US Navy commander, apologising for the incident. It wasn’t immediately clear whether the Americans were rescued or captured, but the White House said they believed the sailors would be freed promptly.
The New York Times reported that an IRGC spokesman was quoted Wednesday morning in the Iranian news media, saying talk of the immediate release of the sailors was “speculation”.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said last week he believed implementation of the deal was coming soon, while European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said in Prague on Monday: “my expectations are that this day could come rather soon and that the implementation of the agreement is proceeding well, it’s encouraging”. Reuters, citing diplomatic sources, said the United Nations watchdog is likely to confirm Iran’s compliance with the deal on January 15.
The comments appear to echo a statement last week from U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry.
Iranian individuals will be removed from USA government blacklists, while Europe will allow trade in software, gold and metals, and transportation equipment. “We haven’t been able to fully debrief the sailors”, the official said.
State TV later released more video and photos of the Americans apparently surrendering on their knees, their hands behind their head.
“The situation was resolved and the soldiers are safely returned”.
Iran’s acceptance of the incident as accidental marks a rapid de-escalation of tensions, just days out from the implementation of a nuclear deal.
Mr. Zarif tweeted: “Happy to see dialog and respect, not threat and impetuousness, swiftly resolved the #sailors episode. Let’s learn from this latest example”, he said.
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“The U.S. right now most certainly does not need a confrontation with Iran right now even aside from protecting the nuclear deal”, explained University of Maryland Professor and Brookings Institute senior fellow Shibley Telhami.
