United States thanks Iran for freeing sailors

Obama administration officials have said their initial determination is that the 10 sailors were treated well and with respect after Iranian forces detained their two small Navy boats in the Persian Gulf on Tuesday. The official, who was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly, said they are being debriefed and getting medical exams but were not harmed.

The boats had drifted off course, but one was also suffering engine trouble, making it impossible for the Americans to rapidly back off and return to worldwide waters when they were approached by armed Iranian naval boats, the official said.

“It was a mistake, that was our fault, and we apologise for our mistake”, the sailor said on IRIB state TV. He said Tehran did not consider the U.S. Navy boats violating Iranian territorial waters as “innocent passage”. “Iran and the USA have gone a long way in reducing tensions but still have a long way to go in improving their contacts”. USA officials say the Department of Defense is debriefing the sailors about the videos and that it would be premature to say whether any Geneva violation had been committed.

In a statement issued Wednesday morning by the State Department, Kerry also confirmed that the us sailors had been “safely returned to USA hands”. Of particular note, they said, was the question of how the military lost contact with not one, but two boats.

Secretary of State John Kerry, who forged a personal relationship with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif through three years of nuclear negotiations, called Zarif immediately on learning of the incident, according to a senior US official.

In a message to the Commander of Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Navy Rear Admiral Ali Fadavi, Boroujerdi said the “brave” move by the Iranian forces in the Persian Gulf indicated that Iran controls the security of this sensitive region.

The incident was a potential embarrassment to the Obama administration, unfolding just as President Barack Obama was to appear before Congress for his final State of the Union address.

Officials are looking into whether one of the sailors may have “fat-fingered” a navigation unit, entering erroneous coordinates and veering into Iranian waters by mistake. Top officials from both countries called the swift resolution to the incident a victory for diplomacy.

US Defense Secretary Ash Carter said he was pleased the sailors had been freed and appreciated “the timely way in which this situation was resolved”.

‘They obviously had misnavigated… that’s how they believe they ended up in this circumstance, ‘ he added. He told Zarif that the sailors were in transit between Kuwait and Bahrain and had experienced some sort of mechanical failure.

The official spoke to The Associated Press on Wednesday on condition of anonymity as the information had yet to be made public.

Iran sank a replica of a USA aircraft carrier near the strait last February and has said it is testing “suicide drones” that could conduct kamikaze missions on naval ships. Once the U.N. nuclear agency confirms Iran’s actions to roll back its program, the United States and other Western powers are obliged to suspend wide-ranging oil, trade and financial sanctions on Tehran.

Mr. Kerry noted that until recently, the two sides hadn’t spoken in 35 years.