Iran frees USA sailors swiftly as diplomacy smoothes waters

U.S.-based heavyweights including Exxon Mobil Corp. and Halliburton Co. probably will have to wait – and may miss out completely because of unilateral sanctions imposed by Washington to punish Iran for its involvement in terrorism and missile development.

“Implementation of JCPOA will finish in the next 7 days”, he added.

Prospects for exports to the Americas, never a significant market for Iran, appear slim.

The Obama administration hailed the agreement as one of the major wins of his presidency.

What looked like the beginning of a hostage crisis on Tuesday night, unfolding as the president gave his last State of the Union address, was instead resolved by Wednesday morning. He didn’t mention the captives while he was speaking, instead highlighting the Iran nuclear deal as a top legacy achievement. He spoke five times by telephone to Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, with whom he bonded during tortuous negotiations previous year over the nuclear deal.

While Obama made no mention in his speech of captive American sailors, Kerry contacted his Iranian counterpart.

Kerry denied apologizing, while a spokesman said: “He expressed gratitude to Iranian authorities for their cooperation in swiftly resolving this matter, and noted that the peaceful and efficient resolution of this issue is a testament to the critical role diplomacy plays in keeping our country safe, secure and strong”.

Supporters said the seizure of the sailors was one reason to support the bill.

There was precedent for such a standoff to further deteriorate.

The swift release of American naval personnel and the calm and mature way both governments behaved contrasted sharply with with a similar incident that occurred in 2007 during which 15 British naval personnel, whose boat had drifted into Iran’s territorial waters in the Arvand Rud (Shatt al-Arab), were held for 13 days. In an acute embarrassment for the British government, the service members were paraded before then-President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and critics said their apologies were extracted under duress.

Yet at the same time, the administration claimed that the encounter wasn’t hostile and the sailors were treated well.

The EU yesterday extended a freeze on sanctions against Iran for another two weeks, clearing the way for their complete end once the United Nations certifies Tehran is complying with the terms of a historic nuclear deal. In December, Iranian gunboats fired unguided missiles about 1,000 metres from the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman.

Within the Middle East, traders said Iran’s main competitor would be Iraq, which has successfully returned to Asian markets in recent years, with exports rising above 3.5 million bpd. “Under global law, sovereign immune vessels like navy ships and boats do not lose their sovereign immune status when they are in distress at sea”, he said. “They gained propaganda benefit inside Iran because this was depicted as aggressive Americans being stopped by the Revolutionary Guard and arrested and humiliated”.

But the main lesson of this episode in US-Iran relations is that the two countries can work together effectively and a civil manner when they have mutual interests and the proper channels of communications.

“I think it was an opportunity to demonstrate that they had the ability to cooperate and to be responsible when presented with a complicated situation like this”, the senior State Department official said.