Apologies for Ayatollahs After US Sailors Seized

Global sanctions relief will be triggered when Iran follows through on commitments to reduce its nuclear program. The report said Iran demanded an apology and that the sailors would remain in captivity as they were questioned about whether they entered Iran’s waters to gather intelligence.

The incident came amid heightened tensions with Iran, and only hours before President Barack Obama was set to deliver his final State of the Union address to Congress and the public.

The move has earned him flack from Republican lawmakers who argue the administration hasn’t been firm enough with Iran since the nuclear deal was reached a year ago. Iranian officials expect the IAEA report on this to be issued on Friday.

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

There was precedent for such a standoff to further deteriorate.

The European Council representing EU governments in Brussels said in a statement that its decision to fully lift economic sanctions on Iran would come as soon the International Atomic Energy Agency agreed that Iran has taken the necessary steps. Iranian state-owned Press TV said the sailors had been released around 3 a.m. ET Wednesday.

While the initial call with Zarif had already been planned in advance, the official said it “took on a different degree of importance” because of the situation with the sailors. There were no indications the sailors were harmed while in Iranian custody, the Pentagon said.

The legislation targets more than 50 individuals and entities included in an attachment to the nuclear deal that also are on Treasury’s “Specially Designated Nationals” list, which freezes any assets they may have in the us and generally prohibits anyone in the USA from doing business with them.

“Iran does not deserve the benefit of the doubt”.

“We continue to call on the Iranians to release these individuals”, Toner said. The incident has been described as the result of an unspecified error, possibly a mechanical failure on one of the boats or a mistake of navigation, and its significance was swiftly downplayed by the Obama administration, which predicted that the Iranians would release the 10 sailors within about a day’s time.

Since the beginning of the year, Kerry and Zarif have spoken by phone at least 11 times, according to the State Department.

Still, officials in Washington were hopeful that the way that the situation was resolved could pave the way for less confrontational relations with Tehran in the future and perhaps provide a model for talks on the freeing of American prisoners in Iran.

But in a tweet, Zarif expressed a similar hope that future clashes could be solved in a comparably effective way. “Let’s learn from this latest example”.

Iran’s foreign ministry on Tuesday sent its director of political and worldwide affairs, Hamid Baeedinejad, to Vienna, where the IAEA is based.

USA experts say Iran’s leaders still want to see the nuclear deal proceed: President Hassan Rouhani because of the boost it may give moderates in parliamentary elections next month, and supreme leader Ali Khamenei because it allows Iran to reenter the global marketplace and inject life, and cash, into its moribund economy. The fact that both boats appeared to leave Farsi Island on their own power undermines the plausibility of that explanation, defense and military officials said.