Iran said a US aircraft carrier “acted provocatively and unprofessionally” after its Revolutionary Guards seized two US boats that strayed into Islamic Republic's territorial waters.
The USS Harry S. Truman, which is currently deployed in the Persian Gulf, has been conducting improper maneuvers in the wake of the detention of the boats, a top Iranian naval commander claimed.
Rear Admiral Ali Fadavi, the chief of Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps’ Navy, talked about the incident with the American boats in a live interview on state TV.
Fadavi dismissed reports that the ten American troops detained by the IRGC would soon be released as “speculation.” He said they would be questioned and warned that Iran would “act properly” if it concludes that the boats entered Iranian waters on an espionage mission rather than by accident.
He confirmed that US Secretary of State John Kerry had talked with his Iranian counterpart, Javad Zarif. Zarif demanded a formal apology for the breach of Iranian sovereignty, Fadavi said.
Fadavi later said that a broken navigation system appears to be at fault in the incident and that the US sailors were likely to be released soon.
"The final order will be issued soon and they will probably be released," he said.
Two US boats armed with machine guns were detained about a mile into Iranian territorial waters, reportedly after one of them suffered a mechanical failure.
Last month, the US condemned Iran for conducting tests of a ballistic missile system in the Strait of Hormuz, saying the USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier and the USS Bulkeley destroyer were in proximity.
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