Iran demands apology from US before it releases 10 sailors -

• Revolutionary Guard seize two boats
• US officials say vessels will be released
• Iranian navy test fires rockets near US aircraft carrier
• 'Barack Obama's appeasment has encouraged Iran's aggression'


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iran/12096275/Iran-holds-two-US-Navy-boats-in-Persian-Gulf.html#update-20160112-2148

This is why Obama's foreign policy has failed, it made a deal on nukes with a nation who its barbaric Government has voiwed to destroy the US. That deal is as groundless as the 1938 Munich agreement, as this nation will no doubt not stopped untill it has a Nucleur arsenal. Seriously when is Obama going to wake the hell up.

They are a pesky bunch, those Iranians.

IMO Iran should have been 'dealt' with a while back.

If the Yankee boats 'accidentally' drifted into Iranian waters why is an apology necessary, twas a ACCIDENT.
The Iranians are making the Yanks eat crow, norty.

Revolutionary Guards release 10 US sailors who entered Iranian waters
Swift resolution contradicts speculation Revolutionary Guards might use incident to derail improving relations between Tehran and west

The US military confirmed the sailors’ release after the Guards issued a statement claiming they were freed into international waters after an apology from Washington.
“We decided to release them after conducting a technical investigation and consultations with our national security officials, and also after establishing that their trespassing into the waters of the Islamic Republic was unintentional and also receiving apology from them,” read the statement published on the Fars news agency, which is affiliated to the Guards.

The sailors’ two small navy craft brieflywent missing on Tuesday while crossing the Gulf from Kuwait to Bahrain. Pentagon sources later said the vessels entered Iranian waters because of technical difficulties.

   
Some of the US personnel who were detained by the Revolutionary Guards. Photograph: IRGC/EPA  
On Wednesday, the Pentagon said: “Ten US navy sailors safely returned to US custody today, after departing Iran. There are no indications that the sailors were harmed during their brief detention.”

“The sailors departed Farsi Island at 8.43am [GMT], aboard the two Riverine Command boats that they had been operating when they lost contact with the US navy. They were later transferred ashore by US navy aircraft.”
John Kerry, the US secretary of state, said he was pleased that the sailors had been returned. “I also want to thank the Iranian authorities for their cooperation and quick response,” he told an audience at the National Defense University in Washington.
“These are always situations which, as everybody here knows, have the ability, if not properly guided, to get out of control. I’m appreciative for the quick and appropriate response of the Iranian authorities.”
The sailors had been treated properly, an indication of improved diplomatic relations, Kerry said: “I think we can all imagine how a similar situation might have played out three or four years ago. In fact, it is clear that today this kind of issue was able to be peacefully resolved, and officially resolved, and that is a testament to the critical role that diplomacy plays in keeping the country safe, secure and strong.”
The sailors received a medical screening on Wednesday morning aboard the guided missile cruiser USS Anzio, the Pentagon said. They were then expected to be transferred to the aircraft carrier USS Harry S Truman, from where they will be flown ashore at an unspecified point for reintegration.

The Iranian claim of an apology was ambiguous. It was not clear whether Kerry had officially apologised during phone communications with his Iranian counterpart, Mohammad Javad Zarif, or whether the apology, if true, had come from the sailors themselves.
Kerry thanked Iran for the swift resolution of the incident, tweeting:



John Kerry Verified account ‏@JohnKerry
Peaceful and efficient resolution of this issue is a testament to the critical role diplomacy plays in keeping our country secure & strong.

The US defence secretary, Ash Carter, said: “I am pleased that 10 US navy sailors have departed Iran and are now back in US hands. I want to personally thank secretary of state John Kerry for his diplomatic engagement with Iran to secure our sailors’ swift return. Around the world, the US navy routinely provides assistance to foreign sailors in distress, and we appreciate the timely way in which this situation was resolved.”
A direct conversation between the Iranian foreign minster and US counterpart would have been unthinkable just five years ago, and Carter’s statement is indicative of the improved diplomatic relations between Washington and Tehran.
The Revolutionary Guards’ navy chief and US officials saidmechanical trouble with one of the boats caused them to drift into Iranian territorial waters.
The 10 US detainees – nine men and one woman – were held overnight at an Iranian base on Farsi Island. Tasnim news, affiliated to the Guards, published a series of images showing the sailors in Iranian custody.

More at: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jan/13/iran-releases-us-navy-boat-crews-who-entered-territorial-waters-state-tv


Considering the huge repercussions the would have been if Iran had strayed into US waters, I think they handled that would good grace and didn't make an incident into a crisis.