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Update: Iran releases U.S. sailors held over entering territorial waters

Xinhua, January 13, 2016 Adjust font size:

Iranian authorities on Wednesday released 10 U.S. sailors held a day earlier over violating the country's waters, Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) said.

Technical investigations proved that the entrance of the two U.S. navy boats into Iran's waters was unintentional, the IRGC said in a statement on its website.

The sailors were set free and were sent to the international waters in the Persian Gulf, the statement read.

They vowed not to repeat the mistake of entering Iran's territorial waters, it added.

Earlier in the day, the IRGC said that two U.S. navy boats with 10 crew members on board -- nine men and one woman -- illegally entered Iran's territorial waters on Tuesday at 16:30 local time (13:00 GMT).

The IRGC naval forces sent them a warning message and then they were detained and sent to Iran's Farsi Island.

Earlier on Wednesday, navy commander of IRGC Ali Fadavi said that the 10 U.S. sailors would be "probably" released since their entry to Iran's waters was due to technical problems in their naval system. Enditem