Iran Releases Sailors
Kerry told Iran’s foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, to release the 10 U.S. sailors, and that it would be a “good story” for both countries, showing that the relationship between both nations was improving, and a senior U.S. official said that Kerry had urged Zarif to use the event to showcase the improving political situation.
“They speak relatively regularly, none of this is unusual in the wake of the dialogue we’ve had on nuclear issues,” he said, adding that Kerry had already had a scheduled call with Zarif before the news broke.
Kerry explained to Zarif that the sailors — crews in two US Navy patrol boats — had been on a routine transit mission between Kuwait and Bahrein and urged him to ensure that they were released quickly and unharmed.
And he added “if we are able to do this in the right way it would be a good story for both of us.”
According to the US official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss a private diplomatic exchange, Kerry’s success in the negotiation was testament to the closer ties developed between the governments during negotiations on the Iran nuclear deal.
It is sad that our stature is so diminished as to require us to negotiate and beg from these pirates. With stronger leadership it would have been a pro forma hand-over without the posturing and photo ops that this administration is so fond of. While it is wonderful that the incident was resolved quickly and without any loss of life, it is sad that the U.S. has come to this and must turn every small incident into a publicity show for the public.
One wonders what would happen if a serious clash should happen? It appears that this administration is completely unprepared for such an event.
Source: news.yahoo.com
set up