The IRGC Public Relations in a statement on Wednesday said the sailors were freed following an apology from the US and after technical and operational investigations indicated that the intrusion into Iranian territorial waters was “unintentional”.

It also underlined that the US has pledged to prevent such mistakes in the future.

The seizure took place at 4:30 P.M. local time, Tuesday, when the two American combat vessels, with 10 armed sailors on board, entered Iran’s territorial waters near the island of Farsi.

The IRGC said the captured US troops, including 9 men and a woman, were treated properly, are fully safe and have been transferred to an appropriate location.

The USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier had been drifting out southeast of the Iranian island of Farsi in the international waters when the Iranian forces seized the two boats, while the French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle had been also patrolling in the international waters northeast of the island at the time of the seizure, the IRGC added.

Later, US Secretary of State John Kerry spoke by phone with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif about the issue.

Rear Admiral Ali Fadavi, the commander of the IRGC Navy, said on Wednesday that two US Navy crafts carrying 10 Marines had reached three miles into the waters surrounding the Farsi Island in the Persian Gulf, saying the IRGC forces took into custody the crewmembers of the vessels following the act of trespassing.

“From the very beginning, diplomatic contact were established, and we were communicating with Mr. Zarif and he was briefed on the developments,” Fadavi said in reference to Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif. The IRGC commander said US Secretary of State John Kerry had also contacted Zarif, asking that the American crewmembers be released.

“Mr. Zarif adopted a strong and firm stance and declared that ‘they (the crew) were in our territorial waters and you must apologize,’” the IRGC commander said, adding, “Any country’s territorial waters are where the presence of vessels should come with prior notification and permission.”

Broken navigation system behind trespassing

Fadavi noted, however, that the trespassing occurred because of technical problems with the navigation systems of the US vessels, and that “they will probably be released.”

“The IRGC Navy will act promptly upon directives from higher ranks regarding the crew,” he said.

US Navy acted unprofessionally

Recounting the process of impounding the two US vessels and taking the US Marines into custody, Fadavi said that following the impounding of the American vessels, “the US Navy and [a nearby] aircraft carrier resorted to unprofessional behavior as well as aerial and seaborne provocations in the area, which were deflected through the IRGC’s timely action.”

The provocations ran counter to Washington’s assertion about the provision of security for the region, he said, adding, “Through IRGC forces’ timely action, calm was restored to the area and it came under our full control.”

“The IRGC Navy has full control over the waters of the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz,” the senior IRGC commander emphasized.