Pushed around and insulted by Iran…AGAIN
The latest capture of two US Navy high speed craft and their crews by Iran, are just another in a long line of provocations and insults by the Iranians towards the United States.
This most recent episode of Iranian sand kicked in America’s face occurred on the eve of President Barack Jimmy Carter Obama’s State of Denial speech last night.
Here’s a rundown of the official story from the Navy:
Ten U.S. sailors were taken prisoner by Iran when two small boats were patrolling near Iranian waters. The U.S. claims one of the small Riverine Command Boats experienced mechanical difficulties, strayed off course, and then disappeared from radar. The Iranian Revolutionary Guards captured the boats and took the sailors prisoner, accusing them of “snooping” and demanding an apology from the U.S. government.
The boats were moving between Kuwait and Bahrain at the time, and the Pentagon briefly lost contact with the crew. Officials said the sailors were part of the Riverine Squadron 1 based in San Diego and were deployed to the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet in Bahrain. The Riverine boats are not considered high-tech and don’t contain any sensitive equipment, so there were no concerns about the Iranians gaining access to the crafts.
The Navy will investigate “the circumstances that led to the sailors’ presence in Iran.”
And, now, the Iranian version of events:
Iran’s Fars News Agency first reported the release. Fars quoted a statement by the “Islamic Revolution Guard Corps” saying Iran “has released the U.S. marines and their vessels in international waters after its investigations showed that they had gone astray during their voyage in the Persian Gulf. In its statement, the IRGC pointed out that its investigations show that the U.S. combat vessels illegal entry into Iranian water was not the result of a purposeful act,” Fars said.
Iranian officials said they had determined that malfunctioning navigation devices were responsible for what they called the “intrusion.”
“Following technical and operational investigations and in interaction with relevant political and national security bodies of the country and after it became clear that the US combat vessels’ illegal entry into the Islamic Republic of Iran’s waters was the result of an unpurposeful action and a mistake and after they extended an apology, the decision was made to release them,” the statement reported by Fars said.
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