The Guards detained the sailors aboard two US Navy patrol boats in the Gulf on Tuesday, rattling nerves days ahead of the expected implementation of a landmark nuclear accord between Tehran and world powers.
The incident set off a dramatic series of calls and meetings as US officials tried to determine the exact status of the crew and reach out to Iranian leaders.
US Secretary of State John Kerry, who forged a personal relationship with his Iranian counterpart through three years of nuclear negotiations, called Mohammad Javad Zarif immediately upon learning of the incident, according to a senior US official.
A representative of the Revolutionary Guards suggested on Iran’s state television that Washington had apologised for the incident.
The elite force said its investigation confirmed the US boats had entered Iranian territorial waters “due to a broken navigation system”.
"It was determined that the detained American Marines did not enter Iranian waters intentionally. Following their apology, they have been released to international waters in the Gulf," state television quoted a Guards statement as saying.
"Importantly, as a result of the diplomacy that took place to get the nuclear deal done, there is now a sustained channel of communication between the Iranian foreign minister and the Americans, to make sure that inadvertent situations don’t escalate into bigger crises," Reza Marashi, research director of the National Iranian American Council, told FRANCE 24 on Tuesday.
"While this was not routine...the US would do the same thing if Iranian boats had mechanical problems and were in US territorial waters," he said of the custody...
--france24.com
13/1/16
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Iran Says All Detained U.S. Navy Sailors Freed...
ReplyDeleteIran has released 10 U.S. sailors and two patrol boats detained on January 12 and accused of trespassing, after investigations showed they had entered Iranian waters unintentionally.
"It was determined that the detained American Marines did not enter Iranian waters intentionally," the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) was quoted as telling Iranian state television. "Following their apology, they have been released to international waters in the [Persian] Gulf."
The U.S. Navy said on January 13 that the crews were back in its care and "there are no indications that the sailors were harmed."
There was no immediate confirmation that Washington had apologized to Tehran, as had been reportedly requested earlier.
The two U.S. Navy boats and their crews -- nine men and one woman -- were detained on January 12 after entering Iranian waters in the Persian Gulf.
U.S. officials said one or both vessels experienced mechanical troubles while on a training mission and were taken to Farsi Island, which lies roughly midway between Iran and Saudi Arabia in the Persian Gulf. The tiny island is home to an IRGC naval base......http://www.rferl.org/content/iran-frees-us-naval-personnel/27485328.html