The U.S. Navy will release the findings of its investigation into Iran’s capture of 10 American sailors and their riverine boats, an incident that preceded the official implementation of the nuclear deal in January.
The service plans to release details of the investigation, initiated over five months ago, on Thursday, a Navy spokesman told the Washington Free Beacon. The findings could shed more light on what led the sailors to deviate from their planned transit route and later surrender their two riverine command boats to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in the Persian Gulf, and provide more information about how they were treated in Iranian custody.
The release of the new details could precipitate more firings or punishments of U.S. naval personnel involved in the incident. The Navy has already relieved two commanders of their duties, the latest of which was announced last week.
The Obama administration has tried to couch the Jan. 12 incident as a victory for diplomacy and proof of warmer relations with Iran. Meanwhile, many have argued that Iran violated international law by detaining the sailors.
The Naval Forces Central Command said Friday that it fired Capt. Kyle Moses, commander of U.S. Naval Forces Central Command (NAVCENT) Task Force 56, after losing confidence in his ability to command. Vice Adm. Kevin Donegan made the decision after reviewing the completed investigation into the incident.
"Several weeks ago, I had initially taken what I felt was appropriate administrative and corrective action involving Capt. Moses based on the preliminary results of the investigation, which I began immediately after we recovered our Sailors," Donegan said Friday. "However, after thoroughly examining the findings of the final, comprehensive investigation, I determined that this additional action was necessary."
His removal followed that of Cmdr. Eric Rasch, the commanding officer of Coaster Riverine Squadron 3, who was fired from his role and reassigned in May pending the investigation.
CBS News reported last week that punishments against seven sailors, including Rasch, are being reviewed and will be announced this week. These naval personnel also reportedly include Rasch’s executive officer and three sailors who were detained by the Iranian navy.
"There’s the possibility, but it’s certainly not a surety," a Navy official told the Free Beacon when asked if further punishments could be doled out. Any punishments would be announced with or after the release of the investigation’s findings, the official said.
The U.S. Central Command released a preliminary timeline of events surrounding the sailors’ capture five days after it occurred, explaining that the two U.S. riverine command boats were transiting between Kuwait and Bahrain when they "deviated from their planned course" on their way to a refueling stop. CENTCOM said the Navy command’s full investigation, begun on Jan. 14, would "determine what caused the change in course and why the [riverine command boats] entered Iranian territorial waters in the vicinity of Farsi Island."
One of the boats experienced a mechanical issue, which caused the U.S. crews to stop the vessels and troubleshoot. "This stop occurred in Iranian territorial waters, although it’s not clear the crew was aware of their exact location," the preliminary report stated.
Iranian navy personnel approached the U.S. sailors and boats soon after and arrested them at gunpoint. A "verbal exchange" took place between the American sailors and the Iranians, according to initial operational reports, though no gunfire was exchanged.
"Armed Iranian military personnel then boarded the [riverine command boats], while other Iranian personnel aboard the Iranian vessels conducted armed over-watch of the boats with mounted machine guns," the CENTCOM timeline stated.
The sailors were held by Iranian personnel overnight at a port facility on Farsi Island. The preliminary timeline said that there were "no indications that the sailors were physically harmed during their detainment" but noted that the Navy’s full investigation would focus on how the sailors were treated—and whether they were interrogated—by Iranian personnel.
Iran has used the incident to embarrass the United States. After the sailors were released in January, Iran state media published images of the sailors being taken into custody at gunpoint with their hands on their heads. Additional photographs similarly released have showed at least one of the captured sailors crying while in custody.
Iran state television also aired a video showing one of the American sailors, later unofficially identified as Lt. David Nartker, apologizing for entering Iranian territorial waters. The sailors were mocked by participants in a February parade celebrating the 1979 Islamic Revolution, and Iran’s military plans to erect a monument to commemorate the Americans’ capture.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei also awarded medals to five Iranian naval commanders involved in the arrest, including Admiral Ali Fadavi, for the "courage" and "strong faith" they displayed in capturing the U.S. sailors.
The Obama administration has sought to portray the incident as a diplomatic victory. Secretary of State John Kerry quickly thanked Iran for cooperating in the sailors’ release, which he hailed as a "testament to the critical role that diplomacy plays in keeping our country safe, secure, and strong." The White House said there is no reason to regard the images of the sailors released by Iran state media as embarrassing.
Military officials and experts have said that Iran’s behavior went against international law.
U.S. legal experts told the Navy Times in January that Iran’s arrest of the sailors violated the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea. Under the law, a warship is allowed "innocent passage" through territorial waters of another country as long as it moves continuously and swiftly and does not conduct military operations. The definition of innocent passage also includes "stopping and anchoring" so long as the actions are "incidental to ordinary navigation or are rendered necessary by force majeure or distress."
The United States abides by the law, and Iran has signed it but not ratified it.
Adm. John Richardson, chief of naval operations, told members of Congress in March that Iran’s behavior was "not consistent with international law."
"Those sailors by international law should not have been captured and detained," Richardson said during a House budget hearing, calling the arrest "another indication of the type of threat we’re dealing with here."
The 10 sailors were arrested four days before economic sanctions on Iran were lifted in the official implementation of last summer’s nuclear deal, which released billions in unfrozen cash assets to the country.
Shortly after the incident, Vice President Joe Biden characterized the behavior of both sides as "standard nautical practice."