Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan. 13
By Umid Niayesh - Trend:
Iran released the US Navy sailors arrested on Jan. 12 after they drifted into Iranian waters, the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Public Relations Department said Jan. 13 in a statement.
Earlier the IRGC said it seized two US navy boats with 10 sailors onboard at 16:30 (GMT+3:30) on Jan. 12. The IRGC Navy's Public Relations Department, in a statement released on Jan. 13, said that the US navy boats entered Iranian territorial waters near Farsi Island in the Persian Gulf illegally.
"The arrested sailors were released in international waters in the Persian Gulf," read the IRGC statement posted on its official website Jan. 13.
IRGC, which also released the photos of the American sailors, said its boats escorted the US vessels to international waters to release them there.
The IRGC freed the US Navy sailors after it became clear that the American boats entered Iran's territorial waters "unintentionally."
According to the IRGC statement, the US sailors apologized and pledged "to not make mistakes again."
Earlier, the IRGC Navy Commander Rear Admiral Ali Fadavi said Iran's investigations indicate that the US boats entered Iranian waters due to failure in the navigation systems.
