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There's no point pretending the illegal seizure and release of America's sailors is anything other a huge propaganda victory for Iran - and a humiliation for the United States. Insofar as there was a strategic calculation behind Obama's outreach to the mullahs, it was that the nuclear deal and the lifting of sanctions would incentivize the Islamic Republic to start behaving like any other house-trained member of the community of nations. In other words, they'd stop pulling this stuff. As it was, Joe Biden and John Kerry could not resist bragging that the swift resolution of this situation was testament...

Iranian officials stressed that they taught the U.S. a lesson by seizing 10 sailors from two boats in the Persian Gulf.The semi-official Fars News Agency reported Wednesday that Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif told Secretary of State John Kerry that the U.S. needed to apologize before the sailors were released. According to a statement from Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps, "the Americans have extended an apology," Fars said.Zarif tweeted today: "Happy to see dialog and respect, not threats and impetuousness, swiftly resolved the #sailors episode. Let's learn from this latest example."Washington denies any "official" apology was offered. Iran broadcast a video...

Less than one week before the international community is set to unlock a decade of sanctions imposed on Iran, the country’s Islamic hardliners deliberately generated a crisis with the US for pure domestic consumption with the aim of ensuring the ayatollahs’s continued grip on power. Once the International Atomic Energy Agency announces on Friday as expected that Iran has fulfilled its obligations under the US-brokered nuclear accord, the billions of dollars in unfrozen accounts and the massive flow of oil exports will usher in historic changes to Iran’s long-isolated economy.

The White House said on Wednesday that it is pleased that Iran released 10 American sailors it had detained, but continues to have concerns about Tehran's sponsorship of terrorism and threats to Israel, Reuters reports. White House spokesman Josh Earnest told Reuters he was not aware of any discussions between Washington and Tehran about an American apology for the incident and noted one "certainly" had not been given. Earnest explained that President Barack Obama had not mentioned the incident during his State of the Union address on Tuesday night so as not to elevate the issue and jeopardize the sailors'...

ice President Joe Biden told CBS New the U.S. did not apologize to Iran after the country released ten Navy sailors it had abducted on Tuesday night. “When you have a problem with the boat, (do) you apologize the boat had a problem? No,” he explained. “And there was no looking for any apology. This was just standard nautical practice.” The vice president explained that the “the Iranians picked up both boats — as we have picked up Iranian boats that needed to be rescued.” Iranian officials then “realized they were there in distress and said they would release them,...

Dramatic video shows ten American sailors on their knees as they surrendered to Iranian troops in the Persian Gulf while a U.S. 'commander' is filmed apologizing to the revolutionary guard Footage of sailors on the floor, with hands behind their heads surrounded by Iranian guards has been released It was aired on the Islamic republic's state television after the Navy personnel were freed following a standoff When the sailors were taken off of the boats in the Persian Gulf, they were questioned by the IRGC Later the captives were pictured looking relaxed while sitting on a big carpet sharing plates...

The Obama administration got blindsided Wednesday when Iran released a video of showing one of 10 captured sailors apologizing to his captors for the two Navy vessels that strayed into Iranian waters — just hours after Vice President Joe Biden had insisted that there’d been no apology. “It was a mistake, that was our fault, and we apologize for our mistake,” a young sailor tells a camera.

Iran state television released images of the 10 U.S. sailors that the Iranian military held in custody overnight Tuesday. ABC News first reported the photos, which appeared after the sailors were released by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps Wednesday morning. Photos at the link.

Iran state television released images of the 10 U.S. sailors that the Iranian military held in custody overnight Tuesday. ABC News first reported the photos, which appeared after the sailors were released by Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps Wednesday morning.

' Published January 13, 2016 FoxNews.com Facebook83 Twitter0 livefyre436 Email Print Now Playing 10 US Navy sailors detained by Iranian Revolutionary Guard Never autoplay videos Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said Wednesday that any report that 10 detained U.S. Navy sailors would soon be released was "speculation", while the unit's naval chief said the country's foreign minister had demanded an apology from the U.S. for entering Iranian waters. Revolutionary Guard naval chief Gen. Ali Fadavi told state TV Wednesday that the American boats showed "unprofessional acts" for 40 minutes before being picked up by Iranian forces.

Ten sailors aboard two U.S. Navy boats were seized by Iran in the Gulf on Tuesday, and Tehran told the United States the crew members would be promptly returned, U.S. officials said. “We have received assurances from the Iranians that our sailors are safe and that they will be allowed to continue their journey promptly,” White House spokesman Josh Earnest told CNN.

The most important problem that this incident illustrates is the command environment established by Obama, Ashton Carter, his secretary of defense, and Ray Mabus, his navy secretary. To them, the military code of conduct is an after-thought. Social engineering is vastly more important as is the effort to make the navy “green.” Please remember that Carter has ordered women to be included in every military occupation, including special forces with, in his words, no exceptions. Mabus will be remembered for two things. First, enforcing the Obama/Carter edict on women to the degree that the Marine Corps, despite its objections, must...

... The first report on the incident, released Monday, noted the loss. “A post-recovery inventory of the boats found that all weapons, ammunition, and communication gear are accounted for minus two SIM cards that appear to have been removed from two handheld satellite phones,” said the report from the U.S. Central Command. ... “Those SIM cards don’t just contain the satellite links,” he said. “They also include encryption codes, and otherwise unpublished data relating to specific orders and personnel,” he added. The former naval officer said those SIM cards should not have been allowed to fall into Iranian hands. .......

Iranian military personnel likely removed two SIM cards from phones belonging to the 10 American sailors who were detained by Iran overnight last week, the Pentagon said. The latest revelations in the circumstances surrounding the U.S. sailors' detention last Tuesday came in the first public account of the events released by the U.S. Central Command Monday. "A post-recovery inventory of the boats found that all weapons, ammunition, and communication gear are accounted for minus two SIM cards that appear to have been removed from two handheld satellite phones," Central Command said in the release.

The following preliminary timeline of the events surrounding the Iranian detainment of 10 U.S. Navy Sailors from January 12-13, 2016, is based upon multiple operational reports received by U.S. Naval Forces Central Command (NAVCENT) in the first 24-48 hours after the incident. A Navy command investigation initiated on Jan. 14, will provide a more complete accounting of events.

Document: U.S. CENTCOM Statement on Events Surrounding Iranian Detainment of 10 U.S. Navy Sailors January 18, 2016 1:57 PM The following preliminary timeline of the events surrounding the Iranian detainment of 10 U.S. Navy Sailors from January 12-13, 2016, is based upon multiple operational reports received by U.S. Naval Forces Central Command (NAVCENT) in the first 24-48 hours after the incident. A Navy command investigation initiated on Jan. 14, will provide a more complete accounting of events.On Jan. 12, two NAVCENT Riverine Command Boat (RCB) crews were tasked with the mission of relocating two RCBs from Kuwait to Bahrain, with...

CENTRAL VIEW for Monday, January 18, 2016 Iranian coup: A tale of two U.S. Navy vessels Last week, the U.S. Navy dispatched two of its fearsomely armed Riverine Command Boats (RCBs) to patrol between Kuwait and Bahrain. Somehow, the RCBs were seized by the Iranian Navy; the crewmembers arrested, and -- even though the U.S. and Iran are not technically at war -- treated as Prisoners of War (POWs). How could this happen? The Swedish-designed, U.S.- manufactured RCBs cost $2.8 million per copy. Each RCB carries six machine guns, to include a .50 caliber Gatling gun, plus grenade launchers. Covered...

Iran has released two United States Navy patrol boats and 10 crew members who were described as "trespassing" in Iranian waters near a major naval base, state news media reported on Wednesday. The Pentagon and the State Department said that one of the boats had experienced mechanical problems en route to Bahrain from Kuwait on a routine mission on Tuesday, and the Iranians appeared to have accepted that explanation.

TEHRAN, Jan. 13 (MNA) – Rear Admiral Ali Fadavi said IRGC Navy will decide about detained US marines who illegally entered Iran waters once chain of command passes down its orders. “All vessels must give prior notice if they want to sail through another country’s waters, especially if they are military,” said Ali Fadavi, Commander of the IRGC (the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps) Navy, referring to the two American riverine command boats that had illegally crossed into Iranian territorial waters around Farsi Island in the Persian Gulf. “In the world of international relations, there is only one instance of innocent...

Plans are in place for Iran to return 10 US sailors to a US Navy vessel in international waters within hours, after they were taken into custody while travelling from Kuwait to Bahrain. Late on Tuesday, a US defence official said it was deemed safer to carry out the exchange in daylight early on Wednesday. The plans call for Iran to bring the sailors to international waters, where they will be transferred to a vessel from the USS Harry S. Truman carrier strike group, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. It was not immediately clear what would happen...