US Sailors Condemned Over Iran Capture

US sailors who blundered into Iranian waters in January divulged sensitive information while being held at gunpoint by their captors, a US Navy report has said.

The incident, which caused the United States huge embarrassment , happened just days before the implementation of a nuclear accord between Iran and world powers.

"It is clear that some, if not all, crew members provided at least some information to interrogators beyond name, rank, service number and date of birth," the report said.

It does not name the 10 sailors involved but the Navy has identified the task force commander as Captain Kyle Moses.

He has since been relieved of his post, while Eric Rasch, commander of the squadron that included the sailors, has been fired.

The report blames the incident on poor planning, inadequate risk assessment, complacency, a lack of oversight and low morale.

The sailors were travelling in two vessels to Bahrain from Kuwait when they were intercepted.

According to the report, they strayed off course and inadvertently went through Saudi Arabian territorial waters before entering Iranian waters off Farsi Island.

Near the island, one of the boats developed a faulty engine and soon after they were confronted by two Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) vessels, followed by two more.

In the hope of defusing the situation, the captains ordered their gunners to step away from their weapons in breach of US Navy procedure.

"I didn't want to start a war with Iran," one of them told investigators. "My thought at the end of the day was that no one had to die for a misunderstanding."

The Iranians forced the sailors to remove their body armour, kneel, and place their hands behind their heads, and took video and pictures of them doing so.

They were then taken to Farsi Island where they were interrogated and told to eat and act happy while being filmed again, in order to gain their freedom.

One of the captains also read out an apology prepared by their captors unaware their release had already been agreed.

After taking the sailors prisoner, the Iranians ransacked the US vessels and replaced the American flags with IRGC ones.

The videos of the detainees were shown in Iranian media and the country's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei later awarded medals to the IRGC commanders involved.

US Senator John McCain, a former naval aviator, said the report "confirms what has been obvious from the beginning".

"Iran's obstruction, boarding, and seizure of sovereign US Navy vessels at gunpoint and the detention, interrogation, and recording of 10 American sailors were flagrant violations of international law."