Tehran, Jan 13, IRNA � Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) declared Wednesday morning that the arrested US boats crew are healthy and well-situated in Farsi Island.


IRGC Public Relations Department, in a statement, said that the US navy boats were stopped Tuesday at 4:30 PM (local time) when they entered Iranian territorial waters near Farsi Island in the middle of the Persian Gulf.

The statement added that the IRGC's Second Naval Zone stopped the US boats and the 10 crew of these two boats, 9 men and a woman, were transferred to the Farsi Island.

The aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman was present in the international waters close to the place of seizure of US boats at the Southeast of Farsi Island at the same time, it noted.

The statement also said that the French Navy's Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier was also patrolling at the northeast of the Farsi Island at the international waters, when the incident happened.

IRGC said that the crew of the US boats are healthy and will be treated well according to the Islamic Law.

IRGC declared that the US navy boats entered Iranian territorial waters illegally.

The Associated Press had already quoted Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook that two of the United States Navy boats are in Iran�s custody after entering the country�s waters, but the crew will be returned 'promptly.'

Cook also claimed that US had been in contact with Iran and rested assured that they would be returned.

'We have been in contact with Iran and have received assurances that the crew and the vessels will be returned promptly,' said the spokesman.

The boats were said to have been moving between Kuwait and Bahrain and were captured near Farsi Island.

US Secretary of State John Kerry also contacted Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif upon learning the matter.

Kerry 'personally engaged with Zarif on this issue to try to get to this outcome,' an official said.

He later told CNN that he expected the sailors to be released 'very soon.'

By IRNA