AUSTRALIA: IRAN'S REVOLUTIONARY GUARDS RELEASE 10 US SAILORS DETAINED AFTER STRAYING INTO TERRITORIAL WATERS

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: FOIA Collection
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 06587140
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 4
• Document Creation Date: December 28, 2022
• Document Release Date: March 23, 2017
• Case Number: F-2016-02058
• Publication Date: January 13, 2016

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WARNING: TOPIC: DOMESTIC POLITICAL, INTERNATIONAL POLITICAL,
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SERIAL:5ER2016011363341520
BODY
ARABIA
COUNTRY: AUSTRALIA, IRAN, MARSHALL ISLANDS, SAUDI
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SUBJ: (U) AUSTRALIA: IRAN'S REVOLUTIONARY GUARDS RELEASE 10 US
sailors detained after straying into territorial wate...
SOURCE: Sydney ABC Online in English 1812 GMT 13
Jan 16 (U)
TEXT:
[INTERNET]
[OSC Transcribed Text]
(U) This product may contain copyrighted material; authorized use is
for national security purposes of the United States Government only.
Any reproduction, dissemination, or use is subject to the OSC usage
policy and the original copyright.
[Computer selected and disseminated without OSE editorial
intervention] Analysis & Opinion
AUTHOR: PUBDATE: January 14, 2016 04:12:51
( Australia ABC News) - Related Story: Iran dismisses talk of prompt
release of US sailors as 'speculation'
Map: Iran, Islamic Republic Of
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps have released 10 American
sailors after investigations showed their patrol boats had entered
Iranian waters unintentionally.
"It was determined that the detained American Marines did not enter
Iranian waters intentionally," state television quoted a Guards
statement as saying.
"Following their apology, they have been released to international
waters in the Gulf."
The announcement was soon followed by publication of the first
images
of the detained sailors - nine men and a woman - who were pictured
sitting in a room on Persian rugs.
Still images of the two boats were also shown by state television.
The US military said there were no indications that the sailors were
harmed while in Iranian custody.
Their release came soon after the commander of the Guards' naval
force, Admiral Ali Fadavi, said he was awaiting a final order to set
the US sailors free.
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Photo: The type of US Navy riverine command boat apprehended by
Iran
after allegedly straying into its territorial waters. (AFP: Zane
Ecklun/US Navy handout)
The incident in the Gulf came just days away from the expected final
implementation of Iran's nuclear deal with world powers led by the
US, an accord that will see sanctions on the Islamic republic
lifted.
Mr Fadavi said Iran had concluded that "this trespassing was not
hostile or for spying purposes" and that the sailors had been in
Iranian territory "due to a broken navigation system".
US officials had earlier said one or both of the boats had suffered
mechanical problems and been taken to Farsi Island, which lies
roughly midway between Iran and Saudi Arabia in the Gulf.
Iran's Revolutionary Guards often take a tough approach to perceived
and real territorial violations in what it considers the Persian
Gulf.
Relations with Washington were strained by US claims last month that
Iran fired missiles close to a US aircraft carrier in the Gulf.
Last year, Iranian patrol boats seized the Maersk Tigris, a cargo
ship sailing under the Marshall Islands flag, which meant it was
under US protection.
Photo: The US military says the Navy sailors were not harmed while
in Iranian custody. (Supplied: IRIB News)
AFP
[Description of Source: Sydney ABC Online in English -- Website of
the Australian Broadcasting Corporation; URL:
http://www.abc.net.au/]
(U) This product may contain copyrighted material; authorized use is
for national security purposes of the United States Government only.
Any reproduction, dissemination, or use is subject to the OSC usage
policy and the original copyright.
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