The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps announced that the 10 US marines who were detained last night after their two vessels trespassed into Iranian waters near Farsi Island in Persian Gulf are now released in international waters.
The boats had entered the Iranian territories after facig technical problems, according to Iranian and American sources.
IRGC Navy commander had earlier quoted Iran's FM Zarif as saying to US Secretary of State John Kerry that the Americans must apologize over the illegal entrance to Iranian territories.
The statement issued by the Public Relations of the IRGC navy reads, “following the unauthorized and illegal passage of two American military boats through Iranian territorial waters in the Persian Gulf and in the vicinity of Farsi Island on Tuesday evening (12 Jan. 2016), the US boats were intercepted after complying with the warning by the IRGC military boats and the crew including nine male marines and one female, were detained.”
The statement adds, “the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman as well as the French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle were present southeast of the island in international waters when the arrest was made. The US aircraft carrier began acting provocatively in the wake of the incident, but the IRGC managed to bring the situation under control.”
Noting that the two American boats were carrying light and semi-heavy weapons, the statement added, “after transferring and relocating the detained marines at IRGC navy base, probes were made into the reasons for the unauthorized entry at the same time that US political officials were holding frequent contacts with Iranian authorities to ensure the passage had been unintentional and therefore asking for their release.”
The statement went on to add that the IRGC decided to release the sailors “after conducting technical and operational investigations while in contact with related political and national security bodies, and after it became apparent that the US military boats had not passed through Iranian waters intentionally and they apologized for the trespassing.”
The statement stressed that “the American marines vowed not to make a repeat of such mistakes”, before adding they were released some moments ago to carry on with their mission on the international waters.
According to Rear Admiral Ali Fadavi, the commander of the IRGC Navy, that the trespassing occurred because of technical problems with the navigation systems of the US vessels. Fadavi highlighted that the IRGC Navy has full control over the waters of the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz.
HR/PR/MS