Iran Releases US Sailors

Iranian state television is running the video clip of one of the sailors apologizing for an intrusion into territorial waters Tuesday. In the video it can be seen when an American said that the incursion was a mistake and apologized, he also accepted that the Global Positioning System coordinates indicated that the boats were in Iranian Waters.

Screen grabs from video broadcast by Iran’s state broadcaster purport to show 10 American sailors being detained by Iranian authorities in the Persian Gulf, Jan. 12, 2016.

The ten sailors were held overnight on Iran’s Farsi Island and released Wednesday.

Kerry explained to Zarif that the sailors – crews in two US Navy patrol boats – had been on a routine transit mission between Kuwait and Bahrein and urged him to ensure that they were released quickly and unharmed.

“I can say unequivocally, the USA government did not apologize to the government of Iran in any way during the course of this”, a senior State Department official said Wednesday. Carter said in a statement.

Iran’s armed forces chief, Maj-Gen Hassan Firouzabadi, said the incident should demonstrate Iranian strength to “troublemakers” in the US Congress, which has sought to put pressure on Iran after the nuclear deal. A defense official confirmed that the boats had drifted, but said they did not run out of fuel.

Iranian and US officials said a mechanical problem apparently caused the vessels to enter Iranian territory. “We did not mean to go into Iranian territorial waters”.

Secretary of State John Kerry used the personal relationship he has formed with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif to work out the crews’ release.

The White House credited new lines of communications established with Tehran during the nuclear negotiations as key to securing the sailors’ quick release.

As the recent case of the sailors shows, more communication and diplomacy can’t hurt. Upon their release, they left Farsi Island at 8:43 a.m. (GMT) aboard the two Riverine Command boats that they had been using prior to being detained. Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., a former U.S. Marine and veteran of the Iraq war, said it would be “naive” to think they didn’t.