Originally posted by the Voice of America.
Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America,
a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in
the public domain.


                 Iran Official Expects US Sailors' Release Soon

   by Carla Babb

   An Iranian military official said Wednesday 10 U.S. Navy sailors
   detained by Iran after drifting into Iranian territorial waters were
   expected to be released soon.

   State television quoted Gen. Ali Fadavi, the Navy chief of the
   Revolutionary Guard, saying a mechanical problem in the sailors'
   navigation system caused them to enter Iranian waters.

   Fadavi said earlier that Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif
   told U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in a phone call the U.S. should
   apologize for the incident.

   The nine men and one woman were on two small vessels traveling in the
   Persian Gulf between Kuwait and Bahrain on Tuesday when U.S.
   controllers lost contact with them.

   "There may have been mechanical failure on one of the vessels, but it
   is unclear at this time," a defense official told VOA. "My assumption
   is that they were in Iranian territorial waters when they were
   detained."

   Defense officials said late Tuesday they expected the Americans to be
   released as early as Wednesday morning.  That did not happen, and
   Ramezan Sharif, a Revolutionary Guard spokesman dismissed reports about
   the release as "media speculation" that could not be confirmed.

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

   President Barack Obama did not mention the situation in his annual
   State of the Union speech Tuesday, but he did mention a nuclear
   agreement reached last year between Tehran and Western powers, saying
   "the world has avoided another war."

   The agreement is expected to be implemented in the coming days,
   following Iran's steps taken to curb its nuclear activities. Western
   governments have agreed in return to lift long-standing economic
   sanctions against the Islamic Republic.

   The Pentagon said Iran had provided safety assurances and promised to
   "promptly allow [the crews] to continue on their journey."

   U.S. officials said the incident happened in the Persian Gulf near
   Farsi Island, located about halfway between the gulf coast of Saudi
   Arabia and the Iranian mainland.

   Farsi Island is home to an Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps naval
   base, which may be why the sailors were quickly detained, Matthew
   Kroenig, a senior fellow in The Atlantic Council's Brent Scowcroft
   Center on International Security, told VOA Tuesday.

   "Most countries would do the same thing if foreign sailors came that
   close to a naval base," Kroenig explained.

   The news comes less than a month after U.S. officials accused Iran of
   launching a "highly provocative" rocket test near U.S. boats passing
   through the Strait of Hormuz.

   A senior administration official said Secretary of State John Kerry
   spoke by telephone at midday Tuesday with his Iranian counterpart,
   Mohammed Javad Zarif, shortly after the incident unfolded.
     __________________________________________________________________

   [1]http://www.voanews.com/content/iran-official-expects-us-sailors-rele
   ase-wednesday/3142975.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/iran-official-expects-us-sailors-release-wednesday/3142975.html