PHOTO: 10 US Navy personnel detained and now released by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards
See also Iran Audio Analysis: Explaining the Detention — and Release — of the US Sailors
UPDATE 1500 GMT: The Revolutionary Guards have released a series of photographs of the moment of the detention of the US Navy personnel:
Footage also shows the detainees with a meal of Persian food and doogh, a yogurt drink:
Detained US sailors served w/ Persian food & Dough (sour & salty soft drink made from yoghurt) – V @ali_noorani_teh pic.twitter.com/E0dkzh3SOx
— Sobhan Hassanvand (@Hassanvand) January 13, 2016
UPDATE 1345 GMT: US Secretary of State John Kerry has issued a statement that he is “very pleased that our sailors have been safely returned to US hands”.
Kerry expressed “gratitude to Iranian authorities for their cooperation in swiftly resolving this matter”; however, he did not make a public apology for the US incursion into Iranian territorial waters.
The Revolutionary Guards said, as the 10 US Navy personnel were released, that the Obama Administration had apologized for the incident and assured that it would not be repeated.
UPDATE 1215 GMT: Following the resolution of the incident over detained US Navy personnel, Tehran has declared the imminent implementation of the July 2015 nuclear deal, beginning the removal of US and European sanctions that have crippled Iran’s economy.
Iranian officials say that the International Atomic Energy Agency will release a report about Tehran’s compliance on Friday, with Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and the European Union’s foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini announcing “Implementation Day” on Saturday or Sunday.
Before yesterday’s detention of the US personnel, Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization had indicated that Implementation Day would be declared next week, following further Iranian steps such as the removal of the core of the Arak heavy-water nuclear reactor.
See Iran Daily, Jan 12: Tehran — “Implementation Day” of Nuclear Deal Will Be Next Week
UPDATE 0955 GMT: Iranian journalists report that the 10 US Navy personnel have been freed and are now in “international waters”. The two American boats have also been released.
The Revolutionary Guards said in a statement:
After technical and operational examinations done, in interaction with the country’s relevant political and national security authorities, and the establishment of the inadvertent and unintentional nature of the entry by the American Navy crafts and their apology, a decision was made to free them.
Admiral Ali Fadavi, the Revolutionary Guards’ naval commander, had said minutes earlier that the sailors would soon be free after questioning.
Fadavi said that the Guards confirmed that the entry of the two American vessels was due to failure of a navigation system.
ORIGINAL ENTRY: Iran’s Revolutionary Guards are questioning 10 US Navy personnel after two American vessels were detained on Tuesday in the Persian Gulf.
#Iran's IRGC spox Sharif to Tasnim: #American sailors are being investigated & talked to.
#IRGC
#US
— Abas Aslani (@abasinfo) January 13, 2016
Spokesman Ramezan Sharif would neither confirm nor deny that the nine men and one woman would be released soon. He added, “We assure Americans that our behavior will be based on Islamic compassion.”
The US sailors are being held on Farsi Island, a small island in the Persian Gulf that hosts a Revolutionary Guards base.
The Guards said that the two vessels were seized about 4 p.m. local time on Tuesday, 2 km (1.2 miles) inside Iranian territorial waters. Admiral Ali Fadavi, the commander of the Revolutionary Guards’ Navy, said there was “unprofessional behavior which lasted for 40 minutes” from a US warship and helicopters in the area.
“Senior US military officials” said the boats were on a training mission when one vessel lost power and drifted into Iranian territorial waters. US Secretary of State John Kerry phoned Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif to obtain the release of the crew, with Zarif reportedly saying that the incursion into Iranian territorial waters was a “mistake”.
Guards spokesman Sharif indicated that the US personnel would be released if their vessels were not carrying out an intelligence mission” and if their incursion was “not deliberate”.
However, Admiral Fadavi signaled that Iran is expecting an apology from the Obama Administration. He said that Foreign Minister Zarif had a “firm stance” telling Kerry of the need for the statement of responsibility from Washington.