Carter says ‘navigation error’ – not mechanical problem – put United States boats in

The sailors were being flown to a U.S. military facility in Qatar, where they were to be debriefed and given medical exams, a senior Defense Department official said.

The nine men and a woman are now back with their fleet.

DUBAI – Iran released 10 United States sailors on Wednesday after holding them overnight, bringing a swift end to an incident that had rattled nerves days ahead of the expected implementation of a nuclear accord between Tehran and world powers.

“Admiral Ali Fadavi, the naval commander of the Guards, said an investigation established that “this trespassing was not hostile or for spying purposes” and the sailors had entered Iranian territory “due to a broken navigation system“.

Video footage shows the 10 sailors in camouflage trousers and beige shirts kneeling with their backs to the camera.

Sharif said Iran was questioning the sailors and would take “necessary measures” if it is determined they were in Iranian waters to gather intelligence.

“It was a mistake that was our fault, and we apologize for our mistake”, the sailor is shown saying on state television.

Iran’s armed forces chief, Maj-Gen Hassan Firouzabadi, said the incident should demonstrate Iranian strength to “troublemakers” in the US Congress, which has sought to put pressure on Iran after the nuclear deal.

Before President Obama’s State of the Union Address, U.S. cable news blasted out bulletins about Iran seizing American sailors, as Obama’s critics blasted him.

The two U.S. Navy boats seized by Iran with 10 sailors on board were within three miles of Iran’s Farsi Island when the Iranians took them, according to a U.S. defense official directly familiar with the latest information about the incident.

Still images of the two boats were also shown by state television.

The US Naval Forces Central Command in Bahrain confirmed the release, saying in a statement that there were “no indications that the sailors were harmed during their brief detention” and that the Navy would “investigate the circumstances that led to the sailors’ presence in Iran“.

Carter reiterated United States discontent with Iran’s use of the video.

“We continue to call on the Iranians to release these individuals”, Toner said. He told Zarif that the sailors were in transit between Kuwait and Bahrain and had experienced some sort of mechanical failure.

Iran sank a replica of a US aircraft carrier near the strait in February 2015 and has said it is testing “suicide drones” that could attack ships.

“They did not report this navigational error at the time”.

Vice President Joe Biden, speaking later to “CBS This Morning“, said the US government had not issued an apology.

In a statement, the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Command said that “the USA combat vessels’ illegal entry into the Islamic Republic of Iran’s waters was the result of an unintentional action and a mistake, and after they extended an apology, the decision was made to release them”.

The video depicts seized weapons and ammunition laid out on a platform and scenes from inside a boat, including shots of a U.S. Navy uniform, a storage room and racks of equipment, along with a scene of an Iranian officer in a green beret and fatigues examining a document as he sits in a pilot’s chair.