PHOTO: USS Harry S Truman in the Gulf of Oman, December 25, 2015
The Iranian Coast Guard has seized two US Navy vessels and 10 crew in the Persian Gulf.
The US sailors are being held on Farsi Island, a small island in the Persian Gulf that is home to an Iranian Revolutionary Guard base.
Now see Iran Daily, Jan 13: Revolutionary Guards Question US Sailors After 2 Boats Seized
Fars News, linked to the Revolutionary Guards, says the two vessels were 2 km (1.2 miles) inside Iranian territorial waters. It said nine men and one woman were being held.
The Pentagon confirmed that the boats are in Iranian custody, but claimed that Iran has said the crew will be returned “promptly”.
Spokesman Peter Cook told the Associated Press they lost contact with the vessels as they moved through the Gulf between Kuwait and Bahrain.
“Senior US military officials” said the boats were on a training mission on Tuesday night when one vessel had lost power and drifted into Iranian territorial waters.
US Secretary of State John Kerry has phoned Iranian officials to obtain the release of the crew. Iran’s Mehr News said he had emphasized to Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif that the US naval vessels’ entry into Iranian territorial waters was a “mistake”.
One senior Administration official said the Iranians understood the incursion was not deliberate and have agreed to release the Americans in international waters within hours:
We subsequently have been in communication with Iranian authorities, who have informed us of the safety and well-being of our personnel.
We have received assurances the sailors will promptly be allowed to continue their journey.
In March-April, 15 British naval personnel were held by Iran for 13 days after their merchant vessel was surrounded and brought to port by the Revolutionary Guards off the Iran-Iraq coast.
