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Updated 10.24pm
IRAN IS HOLDING 10 US Navy sailors and their two small Navy boats after the boats had mechanical problems and drifted into Iranian waters, but American officials have received assurances from Tehran that they will be returned safely and promptly.
Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook told The Associated Press that the riverine boats were moving between Kuwait and Bahrain when the US lost contact with them.
US officials said that the incident happened near Farsi Island, situated in the Persian Gulf. They said that some type of mechanical trouble with one of the boats caused them to run aground and they were picked up by Iran.
The sailors were in Iranian custody on Farsi Island at least for some time, but it’s not certain where they are now.
The semi-official Iranian news agency, FARS, said the Iranian Revolutionary Guard’s navy has detained 10 foreign forces, believed to be Americans, and said the sailors were trespassing in Iranian waters. FARS also reported that one of the 10 sailors was a woman.
“We have been in contact with Iran and have received assurances that the crew and the vessels will be returned promptly,” Cook said.
The incident came amid heightened tensions with Iran, and only hours before President Barack Obama was set to deliver his final State of the Union address to Congress and the public. It 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.
Secretary of State John Kerry, who forged a personal relationship with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif through three years of nuclear negotiations, called Zarif immediately on learning of the incident, according to a senior U.S. official.
Kerry “personally engaged with Zarif on this issue to try to get to this outcome”, the official said.
Kerry learned of the incident around 12:30pm EST (5.30pm GMT) as he and Defense Secretary Ash Carter were meeting their Filipino counterparts at the State Department, the official said.
The officials were not authorised to discuss the sensitive incident publicly so spoke on condition of anonymity.
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 Strait of Hormuz.
Meanwhile, Iran is expected to satisfy the terms of last summer’s nuclear deal in just days. Once the UN nuclear agency confirms Iran’s actions to roll back its program, the United States and other Western powers are obliged to suspend wide-ranging oil, trade and financial sanctions on Tehran. Kerry recently said the deal’s implementation was “days away.
Originally published 9.37pm
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“Holding” or did bad communications lead America to cynicism before finding out Iran merely helped people off a crashed vessel?
I’d say it’s more of a case of the US Navy trying to save some face because one of their boats ran aground and they had to be rescued by the big bad I-ran-e-ans. “Holding” sounds better than “US Navy sailors get their ass’s hauled off a rock by the wild eyed baddies who are bent on nuclear war and who we should all fear and hate. These crazy lunatics then brought them ashore, gave them a nice cuppa, fixed up their boat and then sent our boys on their merry way to the sound of howls of laughter”.
US has a history of lying about Iran. They falsely claimed it was them that launched a chemical weapons attack on the Kurds in Halabja when it was in fact their friend Saddam. They’ve also been lying along with their pal Netanyahu about Iran’s nuclear program for years, misleading voters that they’re on the verge of building the bomb, when in fact their own intelligence agencies contradict them. As a member of the non-prolifteration treaty Iran has every right to use nuclear technology for peaceful purposes. US’ allies in the region, Israel and Pakistan are not signatories to this treaty.
Thank God Iran has some deterrent, by virtue of their relatively strong military, because if they were as vulnerable as Iraq, the US would have attacked them years ago. Hopefully the theocrats in Iran eventually lose their grip on power, and the country can show its full potential to the world.
Heh, Iran couldn’t even handle Iraq. The Yanks could flatten Iran without breaking a sweat.
Pure speculation on all three accounts.
Pure speculation? Try reading the article dummy.
“Heh, Iran couldn’t even handle Iraq”
Iraq with the support of most of the world including the main superpowers the US, UK and Soviets failed to gain any advantage from their murderous war on Iran. It was by most accounts an unmitigated disaster for Saddam, and probably part of the reason he invaded Kuwait only a few years after.
It took the UN 12 years after the invasion to recognise Saddam’s government was the aggressor.
Nice to see you agree with me, Monty.
Iraq kicked Iran around for years and the Iranians couldn’t much about it.
The Americans hilariously shitcanned Iraq in a month or whatever it was. The Iranian military would be lucky to last the same amount of time against them. :)
Paul: No disagreement from me there. The American military are very adept at destroying; they’ve illustrated that very clearly in the last few decades. Perturbing that you derive humour from murderous interventions though. Something very wrong with you.
Meh, yer Muslim military types always talk a great talk and then get steamrolled in short order every time they try to face off against the west. That’s funny to me.
If you find that funny, you’re an idiot.
How does finding that funny make me an idiot? Explain your reasoning, my good man!
I find the fact that you morons think Iran is some example of humanity. It is an aggressive country that doesn’t even care for its own citizens. It constitution is based authoritative Islamic sharia law and authentic fatwa. They regularly stone emales for adultery and hang homosexuals but carry on with your defense for a country you have such high regard for. No 2 you know nothing of what you you get so freely in the west. I suggest you and go to Iran, this hard misunderstood country
Monty you should actually read the IAEA reports. Iran are now largely compliant, but the earlier IAEA reports show that whilst Iran was a long way from producing a viable atomic weapon, the activities they were engaged in were completely incompatible with a peaceful domestic nuclear power programme. Whether or not they should have been prevented from aspiring to an atomic weapon is another question, but let’s not stick our heads in the sand and pretend that’s not the reality.
@Monty Wuggy ………has a history of demonizing the US particularly vis-a-visa Iran but also over everything else.
Iran an ungrateful state that owes a lot to the US ,-see below Iranian writer Amir Tahiri
-
—-” And wasn’t it President Harry Truman who in 1946 used eyeball-to-eyeball diplomacy against Soviet despot Josef Stalin to force him to take Russian occupation troops out of Iran’s northwestern provinces and forget about his plan of creating a Soviet Iranistan? (At the time the Soviets hadn’t yet developed a nuclear arsenal and thought twice before provoking a clash with the U.S.)
http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/7092/united-states-islam
Avina: You should actually read what I wrote. Nowhere did I claim otherwise.
Monty you referred to a history of US lies about Iran, Netanyahu’s lies about Iran’s nuclear programme and Iran’s right to use nuclear technology for peaceful purposes. How else do you expect people to interpret your comments??
Nothing in my post was incompatible with what you stated. I never stated Iran’s conduct with nuclear technology has been exemplary, simply that their flaws have been exaggerated by both the US and Israel for political reasons. I’d love a nuclear weapons free zone in the Middle-East, but that would involve US allies Pakistan and Israel joining the NPT and dismantling their nuclear weapons. Neither will happen in the foreseeable future.
Monty the entire implication of your post was that poor innocent Iran that just wants to develop peaceful nuclear power is being unfairly badmouthed by big nasty Israel and US with their lies. We’ve come to expect continual condemnation of the US and Israel and unqualified support for their opponents from you, but if that’s not the impression you wish to give I’d suggest you frame your posts in language that is a little less heavy on partisan rhetoric.
“We’ve come to expect continual condemnation of the US and Israel and unqualified support for their opponents from you”
That’s a complete falsehood. Where have I showed unqualified support to America’s enemies? Anyone who looks at the history of the Iranian-US conflict and concludes that the US is the victim of Iranian aggression is biased by some form of prejudice or ideology. I’ll continue to post how I see fit, and I won’t apologise for deliberate misinterpretation of my posts. I can just imagine you carefully examining my posts to find any little flaw that you can expose. You’ve failed again, Avina.
Come off it Monty. Anyone who visits here regularly can see the blatant anti-US and anti-Israel bias in all your posts – any excuse to bash them will do. Yes, there are plenty of things that they quite rightly deserve condemnation for, but that doesn’t give anyone else a free pass.
PS. nobody is claiming that the IS have been victims of Iranian aggression.
*US
Avina: If someone said to you: “Anyone who visits here regularly can see the blatant anti-Russian and anti-Syria bias in all your posts – any excuse to bash them will do” what would your reaction be? Do you thinking criticism of government policy equals criticism of a whole country? And yes, many are claiming the US are the victims of Iranian aggression. You’ll find a lot of them in Washington, and many in the US media.
Still shocked to see someone of reasonable intellect conflating criticism of government with country. Or should I assume you’re well aware of the difference yet accuse me of anti-American views simply because you disagree with my views?
Monty, by anti-US and anti-Israel you can take it that I’m referring to their governments, not to the people – I’m surprised you thought otherwise.
And since you ask I have no problem condemning the governments of the US, Israel, Russia, Assad or any other group whenever it’s warranted. Unfortunately there are many on here who only see fit to condemn the US or Israel and every opportunity possible, and refuse point blank to criticise Putin or Assad despite the wealth of evidence highlighting their human rights abuses. It’s this double standard that I find sickeningly hypocritical.
Fair enough Avina, but the two are often conflated.
I condemn all human rights violations whenever I encounter them. I’ve also criticised people on here for portraying Assad as a victim of terrorism when he is the primary cause of death and destruction in Syria. And I condemned Russia’s intervention in Syria in no uncertain terms as you well know.
There’s also posters who criticise Russia, Iran and Palestinians to an enormous degree without any focus on the crimes of the US, Israel or Britain. Do you find these people equally as hypocritical and deplorable? The US and Britain are allies of us, and we’re Westerners therefore it is our responsibility to focus on the crimes done by those who claim to represent us.
Yes, I would also find that hypocritical. And I don’t buy into this “they’re our allies so we have a special responsibility to criticise them” argument. Similar acts deserve similar condemnation regardless of who is carrying them out.
Go figure the Journal headline on this piece… Iran capture 2 US naval boats (stir up the tension) instead of Iran rescues 2 US navy personnel. Hate filled biased media if you ask me. Shame on the Journal.
Cal, it’s an Associated Press article. Reuters are also reporting it as a detention and not a rescue. Your beloved RT and Sputnik News are carrying the same US sailors “detained” article I suggest you are just chronically biased against the US.
The boats were on Iranian waters…..let’s put the shoe on the other foot, if Iran strayed into US friends water they would been destroyed…..who is the aggressor again thejournal ?…..your headline is journalistic treason……really pathetic
Jonnathan read the article fully. They floated into Iranian waters after they had engine failure. Now I don’t know if you know anything about boats, but if you have no form of propulsion you are at the mercy of the currents. Now the law of the sea requires all and any vessels not at War or in open conflict to come to the assistance of any vessel in distress. And if the shoe were on the other foot as you put it and they had put out a distress call then those assisting would be obliged to aid them.
Mick: Iran weren’t to know the intentions of the crew when they detained them.
Spent a month hitchhiking around Iran in 2014. Beautiful country and lovely people. An experience I’ll never forget
@Stephen
No pubs as you know but I made many friends there and because I was Irish they made a big fuss about drinking. They bought whiskey and weed on the black market (we’d be jailed if caught) and they wouldn’t let me pay for anything.
I complemented one fella on his tablecloth and he gave it to me as a present. I went to hostels and I would be refused a room, the owner would insist on having me stay in his family home.
Braveheart was probably the most popular film amongst young people, who themselves were content to wait another 20 years or so until the older generation died out before revolutionising the country, they do not have the stomach for another bloody war. And while the rest of the Middle East has gone to shite, Iranians are largely grateful for the security their government provides, even if it comes at the cost of freedom.
Iranians consider Daesh/IS to be rabid dogs. The population north of Tehran is largely of Kurdish descent and are strongly in favour of war against Daesh in Iraq.
Young Iranians do not identify with Palestinians either, they say they’ve never met either an Israeli or a Palestinian so they’re not going to comment on the conflict there.
I have to say I was both humbled and rather uncomfortable with their overwhelming generosity, but I would highly recommend a visit. I’ve honestly considered going back long term. Just incredible
Thanks for sharing that Martin. Very interesting read and not a perspective you have the opportunity to hear often.
The America haters are out in force on here tonight. Iran it’s run by islamist bigots who hate everyone. Be careful which side you choose. I chose the country that took in vast amounts of our lost citizens
Iran will return the men back safely , the shia are not monsters , now if it had of been Sunni Muslim state , more than likely 10 beheadings
Which state are you talking about?
Iran doing what Putin and Assad have done before them and making a mockery of the feeble Obama administration.
Yes, the world is always better after a show of force from the US
What’s feeble about America finally questioning their decades of failed foreign policy ?
What, you blame Obama for engine failure? What would the Republican breastbeaters have done?
Do you just sit refreshing the app every 30 seconds? What a sad case you are
Republicans on Twitter are incandescent with rage at this incident. Quite hilarious.
The sailors were in Iranian custody on Farsi Island at least for some time, but it’s not certain where they are now:Moscow
@Monty Wuggy……they’ll have to be careful what they say .Twitter has a new comments policy regarding ‘sensitive issues’. This comes about because ‘philtrophist’ Prince Alwaleed of Saudi Arabia,who wants to promote Wahabbism recently upped his stake to 5% of Twitter stock.
Freedom of Speech going,going………………
should have been philantrophist.
@james mc……If you have evidence to that effect why don’t you contact the Canadian Govt.?
Are you denying you are an economic migrant?
I post a comment stating your an economic migrant, and it gets deleted.
You post nothing but hate against Muslims day in and day out and your not censored?
Any thoughts on that paddy?
Iran knows that if it harms those personal the retribution from the US military would be devastating. So they will play their PR games and release them in the morning.
Mick lol , ha ha , same way Isis faced this retribution when they expected American civilians on video . Iran will release them cos it’s not in their interest to execute unarmed men , plus Russia would distance themselves from Iran if they did a barbaric act like that .
Filipino counterparts?
The “boats” had mechanical problems?
Pull the other leg.
“To lose one boat may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose both looks like carelessness.”
Respects to Oscar Wilde.
However article above said US officials stated that there was a mechanical issue with ONE of the vessels. Who knows? the other vessel stayed with it to rectify or aid the situation of the other?
Welcome to hospitable Iran! Have ‘fun’, enjoy your stay and above all don’t worry!
-
US Embassy Stormed. 52 US personnel held captive for 444 days. Some tortured in middle of night.
—”3) Some of the hostages were beaten and tortured, and even underwent a mock execution.
Iran has maintained a narrative that the hostages were treated well, but that is not true. Not all the hostages were treated the same. The two women, Ann Swift and Kathryn Koob, said they were treated “correctly” by their captors, but others, including Al Golacinski, John Limbert and Rick Kupke, were subject to a mock execution, where they were awakened in the middle of the night, forced to strip to their underwear and marched to a room in the basement where their guards made it seem they were about to be executed by firing squad. The guards fired their weapons, but they were not loaded. Then the guards laughed. Why did they do it? Limbert said it was because “they thought it would be fun.–”
http://www.cnn.com/2014/10/27/world/ac-six-things-you-didnt-know-about-the-iran-hostage-crisis/
Beats getting picked up in your own country, a black hood over your head and a few long distance flights before listening to Westlife CDs on a loop
You are some freek Patrick j
What happened to the motto , leave no man behind.
Is that not the gay motto Kev. Never leave your friends behind.
Paul Debussy, you mean by pressing a button? There are a few buttons around the World, let’s hope madmen don’t start pushing them.
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