IRAN RELEASES US NAVY SAILORS HELD IN GULF

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: FOIA Collection
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 06587148
• 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, ENERGY, INTERNATIONAL POLITICAL,
LEADER, MEDIA, MILITARY, TECHNOLOGY
SERIAL:L1R2016011373986329
BODY
COUNTRY: BAHRAIN, IRAN
SUBJ: (U) IRAN RELEASES US NAVY SAILORS HELD IN GULF
SOURCE: Doha Al Jazeera Online in English 1147 GMT
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13 Jan 16 (U)
TEXT:
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[Computer selected and disseminated without OSE editorial
intervention] 13 Jan 2016 11:47 GMT
(Al Jazeera online) -
All 10 US Navy sailors detained by Iran after drifting into its
territorial waters a day earlier have been freed, the US and Iran
said on Wednesday.
The US Navy said the American crew returned safely and there were no
indications that they had been harmed while in custody.
The nine men and one woman were being held at an Iranian base on
Farsi Island in the Persian Gulf after being detained nearby on
Tuesday. The tiny outpost has been used as a base for Revolutionary
Guard speedboats as far back as the 1980s.
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The sailors left the island at 8:43am GMT aboard the boats that they
were detained with, the Navy said. They were picked up by Navy
aircraft and other sailors took control of their boats for the
return
to Bahrain, where the US 5th Fleet is based.
"The Navy will investigate the circumstances that led to the
sailors'
presence in Iran," the US statement said.
ALSO READ: The personal touch: Zarif, Kerry and 10 US sailors
The Revolutionary Guard's official website published images of the
detained sailors before their release showing them sitting on the
floor of a room.
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"After determining that their entry into Iran's territorial waters
was not intentional and their apology, the detained American sailors
were released in international waters of the Persian Gulf," a
statement posted online by the Guard said on Wednesday.
General Ali Fadavi, the navy chief of Iran's powerful Revolutionary
Guard, was quoted earlier on Wednesday by Iranian state TV as saying
that an investigation had shown that the Americans entered Iranian
territorial waters because of "mechanical problems in their
navigation system".
The foreign ministers of both countries, John Kerry and Mohammad
Javad Zarif, had been in constant contact, Iranian media said.
The incident came amid heightened tensions with Iran, and only hours
before US President Barack Obama gave his final State of the Union
address to Congress and the public.
The incident 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.
Iran and the US had no diplomatic relations for more than three
decades but tensions have eased after a deal over Iran's nuclear
ambitions was signed in July.
Formal implementation of the accord could begin within days,
following steps Iran agreed to take to curb its nuclear activities.
The incident came on the heels of an incident in late December when
Iran launched a rocket test near US warships and boats passing
through the narrow Strait of Hormuz, the route for about a fifth of
the world's oil.
Source: Al Jazeera and agencies
[Description of Source: Doha Al Jazeera Online in English -- Website
of Al Jazeera English Television, widely available international
English-language news channel of the Qatari Government-funded
Al-Jazirah Media Network; features global coverage that it says aims
to highlight views of world's underrepresented populations;
generally
balanced but critical of US foreign policies; URL:
http://aljazeera.com/]
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