The Pentagon said Thursday that U.S. sailors strayed into Iranian waters earlier this week because of a “navigational error,” though more details were not immediately available.
Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said officials will know more once they finish debriefing the 10 sailors on two riverine boats who ended up Iranian territory in the Persian Gulf.
“They were clearly out of the position they intended to be in,” Carter said during a speech at U.S. Central Command in Florida. “There was a navigational error, but what combination of factors, we just don’t know yet.”
The 10 sailors were detained by Iran on Tuesday and held overnight, before being returned to their boats and allowed to go on their way. Some reports have suggested one boat may have suffered a mechanical failure.
Gen. Lloyd Austin, the commander of U.S. Central Command, said it will take more time to get the full picture of why and how the sailors ended up in Iranian waters. He also said early reports indicate the Iranians did not take any equipment from the boats.
“The gear that we deployed with was largely there when we got the boats back,” he said. “We will determine if single pieces of equipment were missing.”
Once the sailors were safely in U.S. custody, some lawmakers worried that the seizure of the boats could have resulted in the theft of classified information or technology.
