Pentagon: 2 US Navy boats held by Iran but will be returned

Riverine command boats assigned to Coastal Riverine Squadron (RIVRON) 4, transit open water in the 5th fleet area of responsibilities in this June 27, 2013 handout photo provided by the U.S. Navy, January 12, 2016.WASHINGTON/BEIRUT: Iran detained 10 U.S. sailors aboard two U.S. Navy boats in the Gulf on Tuesday in an incident that rattled nerves days ahead of the expected implementation of a landmark nuclear accord with Tehran.

Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook said the riverine boats were traveling between Kuwait and Bahrain when the military lost contact with them, the wire service said.

“We have been in contact with Iran and have received assurances that the crew and the vessels will be returned promptly”, Cook said. The two boats were seized near Farsi Island 2 km (1.2 miles) inside Iranian territorial waters, it said.

The incident occurred near Farsi Island, where Iran maintains a naval base.

The seizure of the sailors and their craft was the latest reported incident between US and Iranian forces in the Gulf in recent weeks. “We are working to resolve the situation such that, obviously, any USA personnel are returned to their normal deployment”.

The detention of 10 U.S. Navy sailors taken into custody by Tehran after their two boats drifted into Iranian waters “is being resolved”, a leading Iranian official said, indicating they could be set free as early as Wednesday.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif spoke with Kerry on the phone and said a boat had a mechanical problem and accidentally strayed, according to a senior administration official.

Small U.S. Navy boats regularly patrol global waters in the Persian Gulf.

The incident came on the heels of an incident in late December when Iran launched a rocket test near US warships and boats passing through the narrow Strait of Hormuz, the route for about a fifth of the world’s oil.

Obama was expected to use his final State of the Union address to burnish his legacy, hailing, among other things, the nuclear deal with Iran.

The sailors, held by the Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), “acted unprofessionally” after they were captured a day earlier, the state-owned Press TV said.

The statement also said the Navy would “investigate the circumstances that led to the Sailors’ presence in Iran”.

The statement added that the US marines are “in good health and being kept in a proper location”. Iran denied the accusation.

In 2004, three British patrol boats were boarded and seized by Iranian security forces in the Shatt al Arab waterway, which divides Iraq and Iran. They were released after two weeks.