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 Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it had freed
the sailors after determining they had entered Iranian territorial
waters by mistake. The sailors had been detained aboard two U.S.
Navy patrol boats in the Gulf on Tuesday.
"Our technical investigations showed the two U.S. Navy boats entered
Iranian territorial waters inadvertently," the IRGC said in a
statement carried by state television. "They were released in
international waters after they apologized," it added.
Confirming the sailors' safe release, the Pentagon said there were
no indications they were harmed while in Iranian custody.
A carefully worded statement did not explain how the sailors and
their two riverine command boats ended up being detained by Iran,
saying only that "the Navy will investigate the circumstances that
led to the sailors' presence in Iran".
The sailors were later taken ashore by U.S. Navy aircraft, while
other sailors took charge of the boats and headed towards Bahrain,
their original destination.
 U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter said he was pleased the sailors
had been freed and appreciated "the timely way in which this
situation was resolved".
He added: "I want to personally thank Secretary of State John Kerry
for his diplomatic engagement with Iran to secure our sailors' swift
return."
IRGC Rear Admiral Ali Fadavi had earlier said that the two U.S. Navy
boats entered Iranian territorial waters due to a broken navigation
system.
The incident raised tensions between Iran and the United States,
which, along with other world powers, reached a deal last year under
which Iran will curb its nuclear activities in exchange for the
lifting of economic sanctions.
Some conservatives in both countries, enemies since Iran's 1979
Islamic revolution, have criticized the deal that is due to be
implemented in the coming days.
NUCLEAR DEAL
Iran's armed forces chief, Major General Hassan Firouzabadi, said
the incident should demonstrate Iranian strength to "troublemakers"
in the U.S. Congress, which has sought to put pressure on Iran after
the nuclear deal.
And at a presidential campaign rally in the United States,
Republican frontrunner Donald Trump, who accuses President Barack
Obama of being weak on foreign policy, described the incident as "an
indication of where the hell we're going".
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Attributing the boats' incursion into Iranian waters to a navigation
error marked a de-escalation in rhetoric. Earlier, the Guards had
said the boats were "snooping" in Iranian territory and said Foreign
Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif had demanded an apology from
Washington.
The IRGC, the Islamic Republic's praetorian guard, is highly
suspicious of U.S. military activity near Iran's borders and many
senior officers suspect Washington of pursuing regime change in
Tehran.
The Guards operate land and naval units separate to the regular
armed forces and stage frequent wargames in the Gulf, which
separates Iran from its regional rival Saudi Arabia and a U.S. naval
base in Bahrain.
Last month, the U.S. Navy said an IRGC vessel fired unguided rockets
near the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman in the Strait of
Hormuz, a critical shipping route for crude oil that connects the
Gulf to the Indian Ocean. Iran denied the vessel had done so.
In April 2015, the Guards seized a container ship belonging to
Maersk, one of the world's major shipping lines, in the Gulf because
of a legal dispute between the company and Iran. The ship and its 24
crew members were released after 10 days.
The Guards have also seized British servicemen on two occasions, in
2004 and 2007, and a civilian British yacht crew in 2009. On each
occasion the sailors were released unharmed after several days.
(Reporting by Bozorgmehr Sharafedin and Phil Stewart; Writing by Sam
Wilkin; Editing by Sami Aboudi, Peter Graff and Giles Elgood)
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