#Iran state TV showed a footage in which the commander of #US sailors made an apology.
#navy
#Pentagon pic.twitter.com/VCdjEZiY54
— Abas Aslani (@abasinfo) January 13, 2016
Videos of a U.S. Navy sailor apologizing to Iran surfaced online on Wednesday, a day after 10 American sailors were briefly detained by the country.
“It was a mistake, it was our fault, and we apologize for our mistake,’ one of the U.S. sailors is shown saying in the video from Iran’s semi-official news agency Fars.
The video appeared after Vice President Biden said on CBS News earlier on Wednesday that the U.S. did not apologize to Iran and had nothing to apologize for.
“There’s no apology and there’s nothing to apologize for,” Biden said on CBS “This Morning.” “When you have a problem with the boat do you apologize to the boat having a problems? And there is no looking for any apology. This was just standard nautical practice.”
State Department spokesman Mark Toner also said the comments were not “an official government apology.”
“I don’t think there’s necessarily a need for any kind of apology here. It was handled professionally — at least our initial assessments are — professionally by both sides,” he said.
It was not clear whether the apology was obtained under duress. The sailor is shown seated with two other sailors, including a female sailor.
The 10 sailors were detained by the Iranian military on Tuesday while transiting from Kuwait to Bahrain and were held overnight and released Wednesday morning back to the U.S.
Their release came after U.S. officials reached out to Iran through a direct channel.
In another video, the sailor thanked the Iranians for their hospitality and said they had no problems while being detained.
Video: One of #US sailors says Iranians behavior with them was "fantastic" & they had no problem. #Iran pic.twitter.com/vgVlrkzdvh
— Abas Aslani (@abasinfo) January 13, 2016
“The Iranian behavior was fantastic while we were here and we thank you very much for your hospitality and your assistance,” the sailor said.
His comment was in response to a man holding a microphone, who asked in English, “How was the Iranian behavior with you?”
The sailor was also asked if they had a “special problem.” The sailor responded, “We had no problem, sir.”
Asked whether GPS showed they were in Iranian territorial waters, the sailor responded, “I believe so.”