Luke Skywalker
Super Moderator
{vb:raw ozzmodz_postquote}:
Get the news
Log In or Subscribe to skip
2 [h=6]Share This Story![/h]Let friends in your social network know what you are reading about
[h=4]Iran releases U.S. Navy sailors[/h]Iran's Revolutionary Guards said the boats entered Iranian territorial waters illegally on Tuesday..
{# #}
[h=4]Sent![/h]A link has been sent to your friend's email address.
[h=4]Posted![/h]A link has been posted to your Facebook feed.
[h=6]Join the Nation's Conversation[/h]To find out more about Facebook commenting please read the Conversation Guidelines and FAQs
[h=2]UP NEXT[/h][h=2]03[/h]
Iranian state-run media says all ten detained U.S. Navy sailors have been released. The report included pictures said to be of the sailors. The Pentagon confirmed the report. (Jan. 13) AP
A U.S. Navy boat conducts an exercise in the Arabian Sea on June 12, 2012.(Photo: EPA)
Iran on Wednesday released 10 U.S. sailors<span style="color: Red;">*</span>detained for several hours after<span style="color: Red;">*</span>two small U.S. Navy boats crossed into Iranian waters.
The Pentagon confirmed the release and said there were no indications the sailors were harmed during their detention.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Secretary of Defense Ash Carter said he was pleased the sailors “have departed Iran and are now back in U.S. hands."
“I want to personally thank Secretary of State John Kerry for his diplomatic engagement with Iran to secure our sailors' swift return,” Carter said.
The state-affiliated Islamic Republic News Agency said the sailors<span style="color: Red;">*</span>— nine men and one woman<span style="color: Red;">*</span>—<span style="color: Red;">*</span>and their boats were held at an Iranian military base before being<span style="color: Red;">*</span>returned to international waters and freed. A photo on the IRNA website shows the sailors sitting on the floor of a room, the woman sailor appears to have a brown cloth covering her hair.
"The US Marines, who entered Iran's territorial waters yesterday, were released because it has become clear that their entry was not intentional and after they apologized for the move," Iran's Revolutionary Guards said in a statement.
Vice President Joe Biden, speaking Wednesday on CBS This Morning, said there was no apology.
"When you have a problem with the boat, (do) you apologize the boat had a problem? No," Biden said. "And there was no looking for any apology. This was just standard nautical practice."
Kerry issue a statement saying the issue was resolved peacefully and efficiently.
"I want to express my gratitude to Iranian authorities for their cooperation ?in swiftly resolving this matter," Kerry said.
Earlier Wednesday,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>General Ali Fadavi, a naval<span style="color: Red;">*</span>commander for<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Iran's Revolutionary Guards, accused the U.S. military of acting in an "unprofessional" manner. He said the USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier made provocative "maritime and aerial" moves after the U.S. sailors were seized Tuesday.
Iran's Revolutionary Guards said the boats entered Iranian territorial waters illegally. U.S. military officials told USA TODAY the<span style="color: Red;">*</span>boats drifted into Iranian coastal waters in the vicinity of Farsi Island in the north Persian Gulf, apparently after one experienced mechanical problems and the other attempted to render aid. The two boats were traveling from Kuwait to Bahrain.
The two officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the incident publicly.
Iran's Fadavi said the two boats had entered into Iran’s territorial waters because of a failure in their navigation systems.
USA TODAY
Iran detains 2 U.S. Navy boats, 10 sailors in Persian Gulf
The incident threatened to be a key test for Iran-U.S. relations following a nuclear deal in which the U.S.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>and other world powers agreed to lift international sanctions in return for Iran reducing its nuclear program.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Relief from the sanctions could begin as early as this week.
The Iranian seizure is the latest flare-up in an increasingly tense relationship. The U.S. military released a video Saturday showing what it says is an Iranian military vessel firing several unguided rockets near, but not at, the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman, other warships and commercial craft.
That incident occurred Dec. 26 in the Strait of Hormuz. The images show what appears to be an Iranian Revolutionary Guards vessel firing rockets from about 1,500 yards, or less than a mile.
USA TODAY
Video shows Iranian rockets launched near U.S. carrier
Iran’s aggression will take center stage Wednesday at the Supreme Court in Washington. The justices will hear arguments that hundreds of victims of Iranian-sponsored terrorism and surviving family members should win access to about $2 billion in frozen assets of Iran's central bank.
Among them are relatives of 173 of the 241 servicemen killed in the 1983 bombing of a Marine Corps barracks in Beirut. It was carried out by the Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah, but federal courts in the United States held Iran responsible. Now the high court must decide if Congress overstepped its bounds by passing a law specifically designed to resolve the standoff over the frozen assets.
Contributing: Gregory Korte and Richard Wolf, USA TODAY, and Navy Times.
0) { %> 0) { %>
0) { %>
Powered By WizardRSS.com | Full Text RSS Feed