US sailors held by Iran expected to be released soon

This content was originally posted in 7DAYS UAE website at: US sailors held by Iran expected to be released soon Ten US Navy sailors taken into custody by Iran after their two small boats drifted into Iranian waters were expected to be released, possibly as early as Wednesday morning local time, American officials said. These officials said that Tehran had assured them the crew and vessels would be returned safely and promptly. Meanwhile, the Navy chief of the powerful Iranian Revolutionary Guard said on Wednesday that the American boats showed “unprofessional acts” for 40 minutes before being picked up by Iranian forces after entering the country’s territorial waters. The navy chief, Gen. Ali Fadavi confirmed on state TV on Wednesday that the Guard was holding the crew and their two small boats. The detainees included nine men and one woman, who were being held overnight at an Iranian base on Farsi Island in the Persian Gulf. They were expected to be transferred on Wednesday to a US ship in the region. “US naval force and their frigate showed an unprofessional behavior and had air and naval moves for 40 minutes in the area,” Fadavi said, adding that Tehran doesn’t consider the US Navy boats violating Iranian territorial waters as “innocent passage”. “Certainly US presence in Persian Gulf and their passage has never been innocent and we do not deem their passage as innocent,” he said. Fadavi suggested that the 10 US sailors may be freed soon. He said that Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif “had a firm stance (during a telephone conversation with Secretary of State John Kerry) on their presence in our territorial waters and said they should not have come and should apologize.” “This process is underway now and will not last long. The Guard naval force will carry out orders of top commanders regarding this case as soon as we receive them,” he said In a subsequent statement, Gen. Ramezan Sharif, spokesman for the Guard, said that “reports about their immediate release is media speculation. I neither confirm nor deny this.” Sharif’s remarks were posted on the Guard website, sepahnews.com. Sharif said the US sailors will be debriefed. Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook said that the Riverine boats were moving between Kuwait and Bahrain when the US lost contact with them. US officials said that the incident happened near Farsi Island in the middle of the Gulf. They said some type of mechanical trouble with one of the boats caused them to drift into Iranian territorial waters near the island, and they were picked up by Iran. The incident came amid heightened tensions with Iran, and only hours before President Barack Obama gave his final State of the Union address to Congress and the public. It set off a dramatic series of calls and meetings as US officials tried to determine the exact status of the crew and reach out to Iranian leaders. news@7days.ae Read the original story at: US sailors held by Iran expected to be released soon