The State Department clarified on Wednesday that the U.S. government never offered any official apology for the two Navy boats that Iran says strayed into Iranian waters, just hours after a video was released showing a U.S. sailor apologizing for the incident.
“There was no official U.S. apology to the Iranians,” State Department spokesman Mark Toner said Wednesday. He also said nothing about the situation requires an official apology.
That line fits in with comments from Vice President Joe Biden and State Department spokesman John Kirby, who insisted the U.S. government didn’t apologize.
Soon after, video was released showing one of the sailors apologizing for straying into Iran’s territory, and complimenting the Iranians on their hospitality. Toner on Wednesday said that comment “was not an official apology,” and said he wouldn’t try to assess whether that apology was given “under duress.”
“I think we’re going to wait for these sailors to be debriefed to speak to the proper authorities within the Department of Defense,” Toner said. “I’m not going to make any effort to evaluate from here what he may or may not have said, and whether he was under duress when he said it.”
However, Toner also said that so far, the U.S. has seen “no indications” that the 10 U.S. sailors were treated poorly. He said they were given food, blankets and a place to sleep Tuesday night before being released Wednesday.
“We’ve seen no indications thus far that they were mistreated,” Toner said. “Our initial impression is that they were well treated.”
White House press secretary Josh Earnest declined to comment Wednesday about Iran’s treatment of the detained U.S. sailors or the reasons they sailed into Iranian waters.
“We’re still trying to learn more about how exactly that all happened,” Earnest told reporters traveling with the president on Air Force One.
He also said the president is “pleased” that Iran released the sailors and reiterated earlier comments from White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough that Iran’s decision to release the sailors “underscores the importance of the diplomatic lines of communication” between Secretary of State John Kerry and his Iranian counterpart.
