News

Actions

Iran: 10 U.S. sailors freed

Posted at 8:33 AM, Jan 13, 2016
and last updated 2016-01-13 11:26:54-05

WASHINGTON (AP) — A senior U.S. defense official says the 10 American sailors briefly held by Iran are heading to a U.S. military facility in Qatar and likely have already arrived there.

The official says the sailors also will be debriefed by naval officials and will get medical checkups, though there’s no sign any were harmed.

The official spoke to The Associated Press on Wednesday on condition of anonymity as the information had yet to be made public.

The nine men and one woman were held in an Iranian base on Farsi Island in the Persian Gulf after being detained nearby on Tuesday. The U.S. military has said that mechanical trouble with one of the boats caused them to drift into Iranian territorial waters near the island, where they were picked up by Iran.