Defense chief: USA sailors made navigational error in Iran

Iranian state television has released footage of a detained USA sailor apologising for his patrol boat having entered Iranian territorial waters in the Gulf by mistake.

“Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif was in touch with U.S. Secretary of State Kerry”, the Guard’s naval commander, Rear Admiral Ali Fadavi, said in an interview broadcast live on state television.

Iran released video of troops detaining USA sailors before taking them into custody to the Persian Gulf’s Farsi Island.

The U.S. Secretary of State said at the National Defense University that the sailors have been provided with blankets and food and remarked how important is the role of diplomacy in order to maintain the country “safe, secure and strong”.

Kerry said the situation could easily have gotten out of control, but praised Iranian authorities for the cooperation and quick response.

The sailors were nonetheless allowed to make contact with the USA military, based on Iran’s “responsibilities and Islamic mercy” late Tuesday, he said. “For the most part … the gear that we deployed with was largely there when we got the boats back”.

White House officials said they were still working to figure out how the two small naval vessels wandered into Iranian territory, and how the 10 sailors were treated.

That change of course began a series of events that led them apparently unknowingly into Iranian waters, officials said.

The airing of footage of the incident, which shows the sailors on their knees with their hands up while surrounded by armed Iranian Revolutionary Guards, has generated controversy, with Carter telling reporters Thursday, “Obviously I don’t like to see our people being detained by a foreign military”.

Arkansas Republican Senator Tom Cotton, one of the most outspoken opponents of the Iran deal, said Iran’s “hostile action” was “exactly what I and so many others predicted”.

The U.S. Navy’s Bahrain-based 5th Fleet had no immediate comment or confirmation of the release.

Senior Democrats, clearly hoping to bolster support for the Iranian nuclear deal, said Iran returned the sailors quickly as a sort of unexpected side effect of the deal.

According to press reports, the sailors will be transferred to a vessel from the USS Harry S. Truman aircraft-carrier strike group in worldwide waters Wednesday morning. Gen. Hassan Firouzabadi, said the incident should demonstrate Iranian strength to “troublemakers” in the U.S. Congress, which has sought to put pressure on Iran after the nuclear deal.

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden says that America did not apologize to Iran over U.S. sailors allegedly entering Iranian territorial waters. He questioned whether there was a navigation plan for the trip from Kuwait City to Bahrain, or whether the crew followed the plan. Cory Gardner even suggested that President Barack Obama should postpone his State of the Union address.

Four Americans of Iranian origin remain held by Iran, including journalist Jason Rezaian of The Washington Post; former U.S. Marine Amir Hekmati of Flint, Michigan; pastor Saeed Abedini of Boise, Idaho; and Siamak Namazi, a businessman and the son of a politician from the shah’s era. Western countries will lift sanctions and return close to $100 billion in frozen Iranian assets in exchange for Iran shipping out low-enriched uranium, disconnecting centrifuges, modifying one of its reactors and providing more transparency to its nuclear program. On Monday, Iran reportedly completed the removal of the core of its heavy-water reactor in Arak and filled it with cement.