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 "It's an option that I do not want to exercise," McCain, who
chairs the Senate Armed Services Committee, told reporters as he was
returning to the United States from an international security
conference in Germany.
The sailors were detained by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps
after their two patrol boats strayed into Iranian waters on Jan. 12.
U.S. officials later blamed a navigational problem.
The Americans were freed the next day after U.S. Secretary of State
John Kerry intervened with Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif,
averting a diplomatic crisis just days before implementation of the
Iran nuclear deal and the lifting of international sanctions on
Tehran.
Iranian media broadcast videos of the detainees, including scenes in
which Revolutionary Guards personnel trained weapons on the sailors
as they kneeled.
The Obama administration has said the sailors' speedy release showed
the power of diplomacy and the promise of its new engagement with
Iran.
The U.S. Navy had briefed McCain several times about the incident,
and would continue to do so as the investigation proceeded, said one
U.S. official.
Republicans have been critical of the deal with Iran, and some say
the detainment of the sailors showed how little regard Iran had for
the United States.
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McCain said he had been told the sailors were still being debriefed,
but added that he assumed that administration members were "dragging
their feet" in completing an investigation into the incident, which
he accused Iran of exploiting for propaganda purposes.
"I guarantee you, if they don't have a debrief by the first of March
like they said, we'll have a hearing and we'll subpoena. We're not
going to wait any longer," McCain said. "We will subpoena the
individuals if we have to."
McCain said he raised the case in a meeting on Saturday with Kerry
on the sidelines of the security conference in Munich.
(Reporting by Jonathan Landay; Editing by Peter Cooney and Richard
Pullin)
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