American sailors now in Qatar

The two Navy boats experienced mechanical problems and accidentally entered the country’s territorial waters, US officials said.

An Iranian military official said Wednesday 10 U.S. Navy sailors detained by Iran after drifting into Iranian territorial waters were expected to be released soon. “No. And there was no looking for any apology”.

“It was determined that the detained American Marines did not enter Iranian waters intentionally”.

What are the odds that two lightly armed American vessels would attempt an incursion into Iranian, or even disputed, territorial waters, hours before President Obama would deliver a State of the Union salute to his own foreign policy prowess?

United States and Iranian officials were forced to scramble to defuse the situation, which unfolded as the nuclear accord edged toward its final steps, with a top Iranian official saying the deal should be implemented by Sunday.

U.S. Defence Secretary Ash Carter has welcomed the release of 10 U.S. Navy sailors held overnight by Iran. The sailors were picked up by Navy aircrafts and other sailors took control of their boats for the return to Bahrain, the Associated Press reported.

“I certainly think they were released quickly because of the ongoing Iran deal”, retired Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling said.

“We can not speak to the conditions of the situation or what the crew was experiencing at the time”, Tisdale said in a statement.

US Vice President Joe Biden rejected reports that Washington had offered Iran an apology over the incident.

Defense officials said late Tuesday they expected the Americans to be released as early as Wednesday morning.

Iranian and US officials said a mechanical problem apparently caused the vessels to enter Iranian territory.

But while critics were tweeting, Secretary of State John Kerry was busy working with Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif to get the Americans released.

The incident occurred at a time when the U.S.is prepared to lift some of the sanctions on Iran as part of the implementation of the historic deal reached last July on the controversial Iranian nuclear program after prolonged diplomatic negotiations. “This was standard and nautical practice”. We now must fully investigate Iran for possible violations of the Geneva Convention and ensure these sailors were treated properly.

“The USS Truman Aircraft carrier showed unprofessional moves for 40 minutes after the detention of the trespassers, while we were highly prepared with our coast-to-sea missiles, missile-launching speedboats and our numerous capabilities”, Fadavi said, according to Fars News Agency.

Iran is just days away from the formal lifting of economic sanctions, which will unfreeze $50 billion in long-locked-up Iranian assets by next Monday.