Iran’s release of US Navy sailors greeted with relief

US officials said the incident happened in the Persian Gulf near Farsi Island, located about halfway between the gulf coast of Saudi Arabia and the Iranian mainland.

“I am pleased that ten U.S. Navy sailors have departed Iran and are now back in U.S. hands”.

During a speech at the National Defense University Kerry thanked the Iranian authorities for their cooperation and quick response.

In the video it can be seen when an American said that the incursion was a mistake and apologized, he also accepted that the Global Positioning System coordinates indicated that the boats were in Iranian Waters. They were held by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard and released within hours in an event that rattled nerves due to the tentative resucitation of the diplomatic relationship between the two nations that has not existed for 35 years.

U.S. officials said the boats strayed into Iranian waters after one of the boats suffered mechanical problems.

The same Iranian state outlet that produced the sailor’s interview had previously released footage that appeared to show when the sailors were detained aboard their Riverine boats.

The US and French aircraft carriers present in the Persian Gulf were within the target range of the IRGC rockets on Tuesday, when Iranian naval forces captured two US military vessels that had entered the country’s territorial waters, Rear Admiral Ali Fadavi said on Wednesday.

The nine men and one woman were held overnight at an Iranian base on Farsi Island, in the middle of the gulf, after the boats drifted into the Middle Eastern country’s waters.

Trump described the Iranians as “thugs with guns” and said that they should have just helped out the sailors if they had mechanical problems without detaining them and embarrassing the United States. “Following their apology, they have been released to global waters in the Gulf”, state television quoted a Guards statement as saying. 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.

While there were a series of additional short conversations between Kerry and Zarif throughout the day to exchange information, there was a final call at approximately 10:30 p.m. following President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address, when Kerry was assured everything was still on track for the sailors’ release.

The agreement is expected to be implemented in the coming days, following Iran’s steps taken to curb its nuclear activities.

The Pentagon said Iran had provided safety assurances and promised to “promptly allow [the crews] to continue on their journey”.

“I’m also curious why American officials would characterize Iran as assisting a distressed vessel when Iran has characterized the incident as US ships trespassing into its waters and ‘snooping, ‘ ” Cotton added.