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U.S. NEWSTuesday 19 January 2016
US military releases 1st account of sailors’ Iran detention
ROBERT BURNS day said the U.S. sailors journey they were to have Americans had by this time and healthy,” according to
AP National Security Writer were not mistreated dur- refueled by linking up with already been taken ashore the U.S. account.
WASHINGTON (AP) — In its ing approximately 15 hours aU.S. Coast Guard vessel, on Farsi Island. Aircraft In the hours after the seizure
first official account of Iran’s in Iranian hands. It said a the Monomoy, in interna- from the USS Harry S. Tru- of the Americans became
seizure and subsequent re- post-recovery inventory tional waters. The timeline man aircraft carrier, which public on Jan. 12, there
lease of 10 U.S. sailors in the of the boats found that said that approximately 10 was operating 45 miles (72 were conflicting reports
Persian Gulf, the U.S. mili- about what caused the
tary said Monday the only This image shows Riverine Command Boat (RCB) 805 in the Persian Gulf. Iran was holding 10 U.S. sailors to stray off their in-
items found missing from Navy sailors and their two boats, similar to the one in this picture, on Jan. 12, 2016. The U.S. military tended course. Monday’s
their two recovered boats has released its first official account of Iran’s seizure and subsequent release of 10 U.S. sailors in official account did not ex-
were SIM cards for two sat- the Persian Gulf who strayed into Iranian waters last week in small boats. plain the reason. It said only
ellite phones. that the crews “deviated”
But key questions, such as (Torrey W. Lee/U.S. Navy via AP) from their planned course.
why the sailors had devi- It made no reference to
ated from their planned all weapons, ammunition minutes after the scheduled kilometers) southeast of the navigation error cited
route to enter Iranian ter- and communications gear refueling, Central Com- Farsi Island, participated in by Carter last week.
ritorial waters, remain un- was accounted for, minus mand’s naval headquar- the search, along with Air “At some point one (of the
answered in the account two SIM cards apparently ters at Bahrain received a Force planes and vessels of two boats) had indica-
released by U.S. Central removed from two hand- report that the boats were the U.S. Coast Guard, the tions of a mechanical issue
Command. It’s calling the held satellite phones. being questioned by Irani- British Royal Navy and oth- in a diesel engine which
description a preliminary The sailors were travel- ans. The account does not er U.S. Navy vessels. caused the crews to stop
timeline of the events of ing in small armed vessels explain who sent this report Central Command’s naval and begin troubleshoot-
Jan. 12-13. known as riverine com- or whether it included other headquarters at Bahrain ing,” the account said. Be-
“A Navy command investi- mand boats, headed from details. attempted to contact Ira- cause the boats were trav-
gation initiated Jan. 14 will Kuwait to Bahrain, which is About 19 minutes later, the nian military units operat- eling together, the other
provide a more complete the location of the Navy’s naval headquarters “was ing near Farsi Island by us- boat also stopped. At this
accounting of events,” 5th Fleet.“The planned advised of degraded com- ing marine radio to broad- point they were in Iranian
Central Command said. transit path for the mission munications with” the two cast information about the territorial waters, “although
The investigation will focus was down the middle of boats, the account added. search-and-rescue opera- it’s not clear the crew was
on the U.S. sailors’ treat- the Gulf and not through After an additional 26 min- tion. Separately, the U.S. aware of their exact loca-
ment while in custody, in- the territorial waters of any utes, the naval headquar- notified Iranian coast guard tion,” it added.
cluding any interrogation country other than Kuwait ters was notified of a total units via telephone. About While the boats were
by Iranian personnel, the and Bahrain,” the account loss of communications four hours after the U.S. stopped and the crew was
command said. said. The boats were seized with the boats. It does not first heard that the sailors trying to assess the me-
Defense Secretary Ash by Iran and escorted at explain who advised the were being questioned chanical problem, Iranian
Carter said last week while gunpoint to Farsi Island, headquarters of this prob- by Iranians, the U.S. Navy boats approached. First to
visiting Central Command which is in the middle of lem or its apparent cause. cruiser USS Anzio received arrive were two small Ira-
headquarters in Florida the Gulf and home to an A large-scale search-and- word from the Iranians nian craft with armed per-
that the boat crews had Iranian military facility. rescue mission was under- that the sailors were in Ira- sonnel aboard. Soon after,
“misnavigated.” He did not Along the approximately taken at that point, but it nian custody. The Iranians they were joined by two
say how that mistake hap- 300-mile (483-kilometer) is not clear whether the described the 10 as “safe more Iranian military ves-
pened or provide other sels. A verbal exchange en-
substantial details about sued between the Iranians
an episode that posed a and Americans, but there
potential complication to was no gunfire.
efforts by Washington and Armed Iranian military
Tehran to establish better personnel then boarded
relations. the U.S. boats while other
The boat seizure happened Iranian personnel aboard
just hours before President other armed vessels moni-
Barack Obama delivered tored the situation. At gun-
his State of the Union ad- point the U.S. boats and
dress and just days before their crews were escorted
implementation of the Iran to a small port facility on
nuclear deal with the West. Farsi Island, where the
The implementation trig- Americans went ashore
gered the end of crippling and were detained, the
international sanctions on account said.
Iran and a U.S.-Iran prisoner The sailors were released
exchange. the following morning
The timeline released Mon- aboard their boats.q
