By Bozorgmehr Sharafedin and Sam Wilkin

DUBAI, Jan 13 (Reuters) – Iran launched 10 U.S. sailors on Wednesday after holding them in a single day, bringing a swift finish to an incident that had rattled nerves days forward of the anticipated implementation of a landmark nuclear accord between Tehran and world powers.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) mentioned it had freed the sailors after figuring out they’d entered Iranian territorial waters by mistake. The sailors had been detained aboard two U.S. Navy patrol boats within the Gulf on Tuesday.

“Our technical investigations showed the two U.S. Navy boats entered Iranian territorial waters inadvertently,” the IRGC mentioned in a press release carried by state tv. “They were released in international waters after they apologised,” it added.

IRGC Rear Admiral Ali Fadavi had earlier mentioned that the 2 U.S. Navy boats entered Iranian territorial waters attributable to a damaged navigation system.

Confirming the sailors’ secure launch, the Pentagon mentioned there have been no indications they had been harmed whereas in Iranian custody.

A rigorously worded assertion didn’t clarify how the sailors and their two riverine command boats ended up being detained by Iran, saying solely that “the Navy will investigate the circumstances that led to the sailors’ presence in Iran”.

The sailors had been later taken ashore by U.S. Navy plane, whereas different sailors took cost of the boats and headed in the direction of Bahrain, their unique vacation spot.

U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter mentioned he was happy 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.”

Kerry thanked Iran for its cooperation within the launch of the sailors, including: “That this issue was resolved peacefully and efficiently is a testament to the critical role diplomacy plays in keeping our country safe, secure, and strong.”

The incident raised tensions between Iran and the United States, which, together with different world powers, reached a deal final 12 months beneath which Iran will curb its nuclear actions in alternate for the lifting of financial sanctions.

Some conservatives in each international locations, enemies since Iran’s 1979 Islamic revolution, have criticised the deal that is because of be applied within the coming days.

NUCLEAR DEAL

Iran’s armed forces chief, Major General Hassan Firouzabadi, mentioned the incident ought to display Iranian power to “troublemakers” within the U.S. Congress, which has sought to place strain on Iran after the nuclear deal.

And at a presidential marketing campaign rally within the United States, Republican frontrunner Donald Trump, who accuses President Barack Obama of being weak on overseas coverage, described the incident as “an indication of where the hell we’re going”.

Attributing the boats’ incursion into Iranian waters to a navigation error marked a de-escalation in rhetoric. Earlier, the Guards had mentioned the boats had been “snooping” in Iranian territory and mentioned Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif had demanded an apology from Washington.

The IRGC, the Islamic Republic’s praetorian guard, is extremely suspicious of U.S. army exercise close to Iran’s borders and plenty of senior officers suspect Washington of pursuing regime change in Tehran.

The Guards function land and naval models separate to the common armed forces and stage frequent wargames within 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 mentioned an IRGC vessel fired unguided rockets close to the plane service USS Harry S. Truman within the Strait of Hormuz, a vital transport route for crude oil that connects the Gulf to the Indian Ocean. Iran denied the vessel had completed so.

In April 2015, the Guards seized a container ship belonging to Maersk, one of many world’s main transport strains, within the Gulf due to a authorized dispute between the corporate and Iran. The ship and its 24 crew members had been launched after 10 days.

The Guards have additionally seized British servicemen on two events, in 2004 and 2007, and a civilian British yacht crew in 2009. On every event the sailors had been launched unhurt after a number of days.

(Reporting by Bozorgmehr Sharafedin, Susan Heavey and Phil Stewart; Writing by Sam Wilkin; Editing by Sami Aboudi, Peter Graff, Giles Elgood and Peter Millership)

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