US Thanks Iran For Returning Sailors Swiftly And Unharmed

USA officials said they were picked up near Farsi Island, and the Pentagon said Wednesday they left the island in the same two boats before being taken ashore by Navy aircraft.

There is now an investigation as to how the sailors entered Iranian waters, although they claim that one of their two vessels broke down while training in the Gulf.

While the nine men and one woman sailor were not physically mistreated during their captivity, the latest news from the defense official is the first indication that they were under some kind of direct mental duress from the Iranians. The State Department said Wednesday afternoon that US officials were looking into the videos and would respond if the USA determined that the sailors were treated inappropriately.

The incident began Tuesday when the sailors were detained off the coast of Farsi Island, which is home to a Revolutionary Guard naval base and heavily restricted.

“It was a misunderstanding”, the sailor said on the video.

“Most countries would do the same thing if foreign sailors came that close to a naval base”, Kroenig explained.

That contrasted with how the incident was characterised in Washington, where U.S. officials said no apology was offered.

Officials also confirmed “the Navy will investigate the circumstances that led to the sailors’ presence in Iran”.

Carter said he wanted to personally thank Secretary of State John Kerry for his “diplomatic engagement with Iran”.

An undated picture released by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards website shows American sailors sitting in a unknown place in Iran. The engine problem did not cause the boats to go off course but apparently prevented them from evading the Iranians once the crews realized they were inside Iran’s territorial waters. One video showed a USA sailor apologizing and calling it a mistake, but it is not clear whether it was recorded under duress.

“My navigation system showed I was in Iranian waters but I made a mistake and entered”, the television quoted him as also saying.

“I think you’ve got to give these guys the opportunity to tell us what was really going on and to get some context before we can know”, Carter said.