Video of sailor apologizing for intrusion released by Iran

Iran released 10 United States sailors on Wednesday after detaining them overnight, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps confirmed on state television. The sailors were released after State Department intervention, though videos of Iranians commandeering the boats and later getting an apology from one of the sailors have since caused headaches for Washington. “It was a misunderstanding”. “We did not mean to go into Iranian territorial water”.

Ten U.S. sailors, nine men and one women, were detained Tuesday on the Farsi island in the Gulf by Iran’s military which seized two U.S. Navy boats drifting into Iranian waters, U.S. media reported.

The Obama administration was quick to label the incident a victory for diplomacy, but U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., suggested the White House is more interested in protecting President Obama’s nuclear agreement with Iran than taking a stand for the sailors. He is then asked if the sailors’ Global Positioning System had alerted them about the intrusion, to which he replies, “I believe so”.

Both Iran and US officials have characterized the presence of the boats in Iranian waters as an accident, though few specifics have emerged about the circumstances that led to the incident.

This picture released by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, Jan. 13, 2016, shows detained American Navy sailors in an undisclosed location in Iran.

The Navy realized the boats were missing when they failed to appear shipside in the Gulf for refueling on their way to Bahrain, one defense official said.

US sailors are pictured on a boat with their hands on their heads at an unknown location.

The sailors were later taken ashore by US Navy aircraft, while other sailors took charge of the boats and headed towards Bahrain, their original destination.

The US government has sought to defuse diplomatic tensions with Iran over the detention of two US Navy vessels by Iranian forces, but has complained about video released of the incident.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, who developed a working relationship with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif during the nuclear negotiations, also issued a statement thanking Iran for freeing the sailors and noting that the deal was key to getting the sailors released.