DUBAI/WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – Iran freed ten U.S. sailors yesterday a day after detaining them aboard two U.S. Navy patrol boats in the Gulf, bringing a swift end to an incident that had rattled nerves shortly before the expected implementation of a landmark nuclear accord.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it had released the sailors after determining they had entered Iranian territorial waters by mistake. IRGC Rear Admiral Ali Fadavi said earlier the boats had strayed due to a broken navigation system.
The quick resolution contrasted with previous cases in which British servicemen were held by Iran for considerably longer, in once case almost two weeks.
Iran expects the U.N. nuclear watchdog to confirm tomorrow it has curtailed its nuclear programme, paving the way for the unfreezing of billions of dollars of Iranian assets and an end to bans that have crippled oil exports.
“Our technical investigations showed the two U.S. Navy boats entered Iranian territorial waters inadvertently,” the IRGC said in a statement carried by state television. “They were released in international waters after they apologised,” it added.
Iranian state television later released footage of one of the detained men, identified as a U.S. navy commander, apologising for the incident.
“It was a mistake, that was our fault, and we apologise for our mistake,” the sailor said on IRIB state TV.
U.S. Vice President Joe Biden rejected reports Washington had offered Iran an apology over the incident.
