US sailors release positive sign in a wider sense, analyst says

The Islamic Republic of Iran’s release of the US Navy sailors, who had entered the Iranian waters illegally due to technical problems, has indications that would go beyond efforts to avoid escalation, says a Virginia-based analyst.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hossein Jaberi Ansari said on Wednesday that the entry of the two US Navy vessels was not a “hostile act" as it had come about due to “technical problems with the navigation systems.”

Iran released a footage showing the arrest and treatment of the 10 troops, hours after they were set free.

The incident came at a time that the implementation day for Tehran's historic nuclear deal with six world powers, including the US, was approaching.

After being assured that the troops were not spying on the country and had been drifted away due to technical issues as claimed, Iran set them free.

The commander of the American crew told Iranian media that trespassing the Iranian waters, which led to their detention by Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Navy on Tuesday, was a “mistake,” for which he apologized. 

US Secretary of State John Kerry thanked Tehran for “cooperation ‎in swiftly resolving this matter.” Mohammad Javad Zarif, his Iranian counterpart, also stressed in a tweet that the issue was resolved through “dialog and respect, not threats and impetuousness.”

According to Keith Preston, chief editor and director of AttacktheSystem.com, the “diplomatic” handling of the situation is a “positive sign in a wider sense.”

“Not just because this incident was prevented from being escalated but also because there is evidence that there’s some tendency towards genuine cooperation between the two countries,” Preston told Press TV in an interview on Wednesday.

He asserted that Iran was “justified” in seizing the boats as they had entered its waters in the Persian Gulf “illegally”.

“It looks like the Obama administration, at least, is not trying to escalate hostilities with Iran at the present time (and) that they do want the nuclear deal to be successful to some degree.”

The peaceful resolution of the incident “indicates that there is some effort being made by both nations to create a more diplomatic relationship.”

The analyst also commented on remarks by US Vice President Joe Biden, who told CBS News that there was "no apology" given.

Biden is trying to “avoid recrimination,” Preston said, noting, “It’s important that an incident like this not be escalated to a point where it creates tension that need not exist.”

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