Iran state TV shows footage of US sailor ‘apologising’

The U.S. Secretary of State said at the National Defense University that the sailors have been provided with blankets and food and remarked how important is the role of diplomacy in order to maintain the country “safe, secure and strong”.

Iran seized two U.S. Navy boats, after they allegedly broke down and drifted into Iranian territorial waters.

“After it was made clear that the USA boats had unintentionally entered into the Islamic Republic’s waters and they apologized, the decision to free them was taken”, the country’s Revolutionary Guards said on Wednesday in a statement carried by the Tasnim news agency. According to a top Kerry aide, the secretary of state said to Zarif “if we are able to do this in the right way, we can make this into what will be a good story for both of us”.

The Navy said there were no indications they had been harmed while in custody.

Iran said the British sailors were released when their government apologised to Iran, but London denied that it had offered any apology. The Iranian boats escorting the Riverine boats then turned back as they neared the American ship.

A Navy official told ABC today that there was a U.S. Navy search boat looking for them after they went missing.

U.S. Central Command said of the apology video, “the video appears to be authentic but we can not speak to the conditions of the situation or what the crew was experiencing at the time”.

This is in stark contrast from what US officials revealed about the situation.

They were held for 13 days, in a diplomatic crisis that at the time bordered on farce. It said the Navy would conduct an investigation into the incident. Iranian state-owned Press TV said the sailors had been released around 3 a.m. ET Wednesday. An Iranian navy commander says authorities are satisfied the USA naval boats entered Iranian territory unintentionally. Iran had earlier said they were being well treated.

The U.S. Navy’s Bahrain-based 5th Fleet had no immediate comment or confirmation of the release.

Iran has captured western military forces before, and for a much longer detention.

White House chief of staff Denis McDonough says he’s hesitant to draw big lessons from the incident about the state of U.S.-Iran relations.

The crews were released and escorted to the USS Anzio, which was waiting just beyond the Iranian boundary in the gulf.

KERRY: Implementation day, which is the day on which Iran proves that it has sufficiently downsized its nuclear program and can begin to receive sanctions relief, is going to take place very soon, likely within the next coming days somewhere.

The two developed a close working relationship during the nuclear talks, which concluded in July with a deal between Iran and the so-called P5+1 powers of the United States, Britain, China, France, Russia and Germany.