Posted on 01/12/2016 2:26:41 PM PST by Signalman
Washington (CNN)Ten American sailors are in Iranian custody after two small U.S. naval craft apparently briefly entered Iranian territorial waters, a U.S. senior defense official said Tuesday.
The official, however, expects the situation to be resolved quickly. A senior administration official said there is nothing to indicate this was anything hostile on the part of any entity in Iran, adding that the U.S. has received high-level assurances that the sailors will be released promptly.
White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest told CNN's Jake Tapper that President Barack Obama will be in touch with members of Congress about the incident.
"Certainly, everybody should be aware of the fact we have been in touch with the Iranians and they have assured us that our sailors are safe and that they'll be allowed to continue their journey promptly," Earnest said.
A U.S. official said the sailors may be spending the night in Iran, and it's not expected that they would depart until after daylight.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
We send two small boats out with only .50 caliber machine guns into an area where there is a hostile Navy and Air Force?
I guess they couldn’t find any rafts and slingshots.
Signs of Jimmy Carter!
Remember the Pueblo. The Iranians want our crypto gear. Obama has probably given them our current codes
They’ll be released on inauguration day 2017. When Trump is sworn in.
Expecting an announcement that all have been released to open the speech.
The timing is suspect with the State of the Union tonight.
I guess the obvious question is in what two crafts do 10 sailors man? Special ops?
Another U.S. defense official said it was too early to say what exactly took place and how the American crew and vessels were “picked up†by Iran. He said the American craft and their crew were taken during the incident to Farsi Island, an Iranian island in the Persian Gulf where Iran maintains a naval base.
DAY 1 - and counting.
Quick, is Ted Koppel still alive?
Lets see..at the going rate that trade ought to free about 50 Muslim Murderers from Gitmo!
Sailors Rules of Engagement ? No overlapping security? No strength in depth? JV team is USA!!!!!
The semi-official Iranian news agency, FARS, said the Iranian Revolutionary Guard’s navy has detained 10 foreign forces, believed to be Americans, and said the sailors were trespassing in Iranian waters. FARS also reported that one of the 10 sailors was a woman.
http://www.cnbc.com/2016/01/12/
What is the real story here? What are the ROE that let this happen. What kind of Navy boats only have a 5 or 10 man crew?
DUBAI - Iranian Revolutionary Guards have detained two US boats with 10 crew aboard after the vessels “illegally” entered Iranian territorial waters in the Persian Gulf, the semi-official Fars news agency said early on Wednesday.
“These two boats were seized by Revolutionary Guard naval forces near Farsi Island 2 km inside Iranian territorial waters,” Fars reported. It gave no further detail.
In Washington on Tuesday, a senior Obama administration official said Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif had told US Secretary of State John Kerry that the US sailors in Iranian custody would be allowed to continue their journey promptly.
A US defense official said nine men and one woman sailor were being held by Iran and that they had been aboard two Riverine patrol boats.
I think we still have 10 in gitmo. A trade?
My thoughts and prayers for the men and women of the USN.
Cant help thinking though, that the Royal Navy took ridicule and commendation from people here and across the US when the same happened to ‘Mr Bean’ and Co a few yeara ago......
And OJ was still playing football - for the 49'ers
US officials said that the incident happened near Farsi Island, situated in the Persian Gulf. They said that some type of mechanical trouble with one of the boats caused them to run aground and they were picked up by Iran. The sailors were in Iranian custody on Farsi Island at least for some time, but it’s not certain where they are now.
Time for Ted Koppel to dust off Nightline again.
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