The riverine command boat debacle off Farsi Island in the Persian Gulf Tuesday that resulted in ten United States Navy sailors being temporarily detained by Iranian military forces may be over, but its aftershocks are still being felt — and per usual, they’re being amplified by the media.
Details continue to leak out. Videos too.
Some of the footage is benign. Others? Disturbing.
Take this one that was posted by an Iranian outlet of one of the American sailors apologizing for the incident.
#Iran state TV showed a footage in which the commander of #US sailors made an apology.#navy#Pentagon pic.twitter.com/VCdjEZiY54
— Abas Aslani (@AbasAslani) January 13, 2016
“It was a mistake. That was our fault. We apologize for our mistake,” the crew member says in the Twitter video above.
Propaganda? You think?
Conversely, the U.S. State Department has vehemently denied that any official has told Iran that they’re sorry.
John Kerry’s spokesman, for one:
Absolutely ZERO truth to rumors that @JohnKerry apologized to Iran over Sailors. Nothing to apologize for.
— Matthew Miller (@StateDeptSpox) January 13, 2016
Iran also posted this video of the sailors “release”. Warning: not the greatest soundtrack.
https://twitter.com/zaidbenjamin/status/687306859162791942