US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter calls Iran’s brief detention of American sailors in the Gulf earlier this year an “outrageous” action inconsistent with international law.
Iran held 10 US sailors for less than 24 hours in January after intercepting them in Iranian territorial waters off Farsi Island in the Persian Gulf when their two small attack boats mistakenly veered off course.
“Iran’s actions were outrageous, unprofessional, and inconsistent with international law,” Carter says in remarks before the Senate Armed Services Committee.
This photo released by the Iranian state-run IRIB News Agency on Wednesday, January 13, 2016, shows detention of American Navy sailors by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards in the Persian Gulf, Iran. (Sepahnews via AP)
“Nothing we’ve learned since then about the circumstances of this incident changes that fact.”
The United States carefully avoided escalating the situation at the time, maintaining a conciliatory tone with Tehran days ahead of the implementation of a historic international deal over Iran’s nuclear program.
Iranian media broadcast humiliating images of the American sailors during their detention, showing them kneeling on their boats at gunpoint with their hands on their heads.
The US military says a navigation error caused the American riverine command boats to veer off course.
— AFP
Help us report truthfully on social media
As a multimedia journalist, my job is to take the quality, fact-based journalism produced by The Times of Israel newsroom and make it accessible across every platform — from Instagram posts to podcasts to short-form videos.
This is how many, especially young people, consume news these days. But misinformation is rampant on social media. Our team at ToI produces accurate, responsible short-form reporting on Israel and the Jewish world.
If you believe in the importance of factual social media journalism, please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. Your financial support is essential to sustain responsible multimedia reporting.
We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.
That’s why we started the Times of Israel - to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.
So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven’t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.
For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you, David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel
From the Liveblog of
Thursday, March 17, 2016
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on Google
