Will Pentagon pursue charges against sailor who apologized to Iran?

By Russ Read

One of the 10 sailors apprehended by Iran apologized to Iranian media for entering Iranian waters Wednesday, possibly violating military code of conduct regulations.

The sailor and his nine colleagues were taken and held by Iranian forces Tuesday after they accidentally entered Iranian waters Tuesday. The sailors were held overnight in Iran and released Wednesday. Video surfaced of the sailor apologizing for the the event on Iranian media on Twitter a few hours after the release.

“It was a mistake, that was our fault, and we apologize, for our mistake,” said the sailor. It is unclear based on the video whether or not the sailor was forced to say the statement under duress.

When asked about the video by the Washington Times, Chris Harner, a former naval officer and analyst for the Institute for the Study of War, said, “the substance of [the] problem here is the U.S. Navy looks extraordinarily incompetent. . . in its ability to transit boats without violating Iranian waters, they look incompetent to know how to deal with a mechanical malfunction, and now that they’ve been taken into custody, they’re apologizing.”

Iran state TV has been airing video of a U.S. sailor saying, “We apologize for our mistake.” (h/t @abasinfo) pic.twitter.com/PZVUKW3eKl

— T. Becket Adams (@BecketAdams) January 13, 2016

According to the Code of Conduct for Members of the Armed Forces, when military personnel are captured they are “required to give name, rank, service number and date of birth. . . evade answering further questions to the utmost of [their] ability” and “make no oral or written statements disloyal to [the] country and its allies or harmful to their cause.”

The Daily Caller News Foundation contacted the Department of Defense to ask whether or not the sailor will face charges under the Universal Code of Military Justice, however, no response was provided.

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