TEHRAN, Iran (AP) – All 10 U.S. Navy sailors detained by Iran after drifting into its territorial waters a day earlier have been freed, the U.S. and Iran said Wednesday.
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ReutersThese are the American Navy boats in custody of the guards in an undisclosed location in Iran.
A USA official said Tuesday it is believed one of the American boats had suffered mechanical issues and drifted with the other into Iranian waters.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said the sailors were released Wednesday after it was determined that their entry was not intentional.
The same Iranian state outlet had previously released footage that appeared to show when the 10 sailors were detained aboard their Riverine boats.
“The evidence suggests that they unintentionally entered the Iranian waters because of the failure of their navigational system”, IRGC spokesman Ramazan Sharif said.
McDonough told a Christian Science Monitor breakfast Wednesday the White House is very pleased to have the sailors “back with us”. “In fact, it is clear that today this kind of issue was able to be peacefully resolved and efficiently resolved and that is a testament to the critical role that diplomacy plays in keeping our country safe, secure and strong”.
The Revolutionary Guard’s official website published images of the detained USA sailors before their release showing them sitting on the floor of a room.
Meanwhile, Iran was expected to satisfy the terms of last summer’s nuclear deal in just days. No, and there was no looking for any apology.
“The USS Truman Aircraft carrier showed unprofessional moves for 40 minutes after the detention of the trespassers”, and Iran was ready to strike at it, Fadavi said, according to Iran’s semi-state Fars news agency.
So a search-and-rescue operation was undertaken, and at least one US ship crossed into Iranian waters to look for the crew after alerting the Iranian navy of its intentions.
Officials said the sailors were part of Riverine Squadron 1 based in San Diego and were deployed to the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet in Bahrain. Kerry, who has been criticized by President Barack Obama’s opponents in the USA congress as too soft on Tehran, last week said the agreement would be implemented “in the coming days”.
U.S. Vice-President Joe Biden says that America did not apologize to Iran over U.S. sailors allegedly entering Iranian territorial waters. The priority now is “determining … how exactly these sailors found themselves in Iran”. Its naval forces are heavily dependent on armed speedboats that can be used in teams to swarm much larger vessels.
“We did explain that this was basically a routine transit mission, that it had no way – had in no way meant to end up anywhere on Farsi Island or in Iranian territorial waters”, the official said.
The officials were not authorized to discuss the sensitive incident publicly so spoke on condition of anonymity.
US officials have not confirmed what caused two American naval ships to enter Iranian waters near Farsi Island.
Later, he flew to Tampa to meet with leaders of U.S. Central Command, which oversees the U.S. military in the Middle East.
In an earlier incident, in late December, Iran launched a rocket test near USA warships and boats passing through the narrow Strait of Hormuz, the route for about a fifth of the world’s oil.
The IRGC, the Islamic Republic’s praetorian guard, is highly suspicious of USA military activity near Iran’s borders and many senior officers suspect Washington of pursuing regime change in Tehran.
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In April 2015, the Guards seized a container ship belonging to Maersk, one of the world’s major shipping lines, in the Gulf because of a legal dispute between the company and Iran. United States and Iranian officials scrambled to defuse the situation, which unfolded as the nuclear accord edged toward its final steps, with a top Iranian official saying the deal should be implemented by Sunday.
