US defense secretary welcomes sailors’ release

The U.S. naval craft entered Iranian territorial waters at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, the Guards said in a statement on their news website, Sepahnews.ir. The nine men and one woman were taken to nearby Farsi Island, according to an initial statement published Wednesday.

Carter said he wanted to personally thank Secretary of State John Kerry for his “diplomatic engagement with Iran”.

Iran said the sailors were released only after the United States had apologised, but USA officials quickly denied that.

Commander Kevin Stephens, a 5th Fleet spokesman, said the priority now would be determining “how exactly these sailors found themselves in Iran”.

USA officials also blamed mechanical trouble for the incident.

In an earlier incident, in late December, 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. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter later confirmed that the sailors “are now back in USA hands”.

“The top leadership of the Islamic Republic of Iran is not looking for any tension with America”, said Nader Karimi Joni, a journalist aligned with Iran’s reformists who once served in the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps. The sailors were in Iranian custody on Farsi Island at least for some time, but it’s not certain where they are now.

Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D, Calif.) said the U.S.-Iran relationship was a remarkable display of diplomacy.

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.

The swift resolution to the incident in the Gulf appeared to remove a potential flashpoint between the two countries just days before last year’s landmark nuclear deal is to be implemented.

They have now been taken to a US military base in the region where they will undergo a structured reintegration program for American military personnel that have undergone some form of detention, officials said.

The crew, operating two small Navy Riverine boats, was on a routine trip between Kuwait and Bahrain when the Iranians approached and eventually boarded the US vessels, USA officials said.

Retired Army Gen. Barry McCaffrey, an NBC News military analyst, said the seizure of American boats is “very bad news” and highlights how the Navy may have failed to have surveillance on their boats.

“It was a mistake that was our fault and we apologise for our mistake”, said the sailor identified as a commanding officer.

KELEMEN: Royce, who chairs the House Foreign Affairs Committee, says Iranian hardliners have been, in his words, on a bit of a tear since the nuclear deal was signed, testing ballistic missiles and arresting an Iranian-American businessman.