10 U.S. Soldiers Captured by Iran and Freed

"The 10 American sailors captured by Iran were freed Wednesday, but the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and U.S. officials appear to be at odds over whether the U.S. apologized for the incident before their release." Apparently they released them after the sailors claimed that their ships were in Iranian waters by accident and extended an apology on that front. The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Troops made a statement afterword saying "The Americans have undertaken not to repeat such mistakes." But, Kerry's spokesperson says that never happened. A Navy statement said "the detained sailor have been transferred to shore and are no longer on USS Anzio, which helped carry them back to U.S. custody". The sailors were captured Tuesday after their two naval boats entered Iranian waters near Farsi Island, in the Persian Gulf. The wait for the sailors' release Wednesday morning dragged on for hours, with Iranian officials interrogating the sailors about their motives and demanding a U.S. apology.The vessels were en route from Kuwait to Bahrain. An official said they went to the area of Farsi Island for refueling, but it's not clear whether they actually refueled, raising the possibility they ran out of fuel. The capture of the sailors came days before the nuclear deal between Iran and world powers is expected to go into force. The deal freezes Iran's nuclear program in exchange for lifting sanctions against Iran.They probably would have been held longer if not for this deal being made this week. This interaction could be an important step for military to military relationships between the U.S. and Iran. The exchange doesn't hint at anything hostile, only a clear misunderstanding and since the U.S. sailors encroached on foreign waters without permission from that country, they were seized.