Really unfortunate timing with the SOTU only hours away. NBC News reports:
Iranian military forces seized two U.S. Navy boats Tuesday and are detaining them on Iran’s Farsi Island in the Persian Gulf, senior U.S. officials told NBC News.
The 10 American sailors were on a training mission around noon ET when one of the boats may have experienced mechanical failure and drifted into Iranian-claimed waters, officials said. Iran’s coast guard took them into custody.
The officials said it’s unclear whether the sailors — nine men and one woman — aboard the two small riverine vessels had strayed into Iranian territorial waters before they were captured.
One senior official told NBC News the Iranians understand it was a mistake and have agreed to release the Americans in international waters within hours.
At the moment this seems like a minor incident, but we know how that sometimes goes.