US Navy fires commander of ten sailors detained by Iran
The incident in January was deeply embarrassing for the US and seized on by critics of President Barack Obama
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Your support makes all the difference.The US Navy has said it has fired the commander of the 10 American sailors whose vessel slipped into Iranian territorial waters and who were detained, videotaped and questioned by Iran.
In a statement, the Navy said it had lost confidence in Cmdr Eric Rasch, who was the executive officer of the squadron that included the 10 sailors at the time of the incident in January He was responsible for the training and readiness of the more than 400 sailors in the unit.
The Associated Press said that an anonymous Navy official said Mr Rasch failed to provide effective leadership, leading to a lack of oversight, complacency and failure to maintain standards in the unit.
The official said that Rasch has been relieved of his command duties and reassigned.
Although this is the first firing by the Navy regarding the incident that was a huge embarrassment to the Navy, several other sailors received administrative reprimands. The investigation is expected to be finished by the end of the month, and others are likely to be disciplined, the news agency said.
Mr Rasch was promoted to commander of the unit in April - after the Iran incident occurred, but before the preliminary investigation was done.
In what was considered a widely embarrassing incident and one that was seized on by critics of the Obama administration, the sailors - nine men and one woman - were detained after their boat drifted into Iranian waters off Farsi Island. The island in the middle of the Persian Gulf that has been used as a base for Revolutionary Guard speedboats since the 1980s.
The sailors were on two small armed vessels, known as riverine command boats, on a 300-mile journey from Kuwait to Bahrain, where the Navy's 5th Fleet is located.
The incident, while brief, raised tensions between the US and Iran because of images Iran published of the soldiers kneeling with their hands on their heads.
Navy Capt Gary Leigh, commander of Riverine Group 1, decided to fire Mr Rasch after he Leigh reviewed the initial investigation. A Navy official said no action has been taken, at least so far, against Cmdr Greg Meyer, who was serving as commander of the squadron when the incident happened. He is no longer in a command job.
Defense Secretary Ash Carter said the sailors made a navigational error and went off course.
An initial account said the “planned transit path for the mission was down the middle of the Gulf and not through the territorial waters of any country other than Kuwait and Bahrain.”
That account said the crew stopped when a diesel engine in one of the boats appeared to have a mechanical issue. The second boat also stopped.
At this point they were in Iranian territorial waters, “although it's not clear the crew was aware of their exact location,” the report said.
Secretary of State John Kerry, in a series of phone calls, used the personal relationship he has formed with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif to work out the crews' release. Mr Kerry credited the quick resolution to the “critical role diplomacy plays in keeping our country secure and strong.”
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