When Iranian officials released footage of 10 U.S. sailors being taken captive, it made John Kerry "very, very frustrated," the secretary of state told CNN on Monday.
Kerry's remarks came the same day the Navy released more information about what exactly happened when the sailors were taken into custody, including their interactions with Iranians.
Kerry has been negotiating with Iran on a number of fronts for well over a year, including on the President's nuclear deal and a prisoner swap completed over the weekend.
But after U.S. Navy vessels "regrettably, inadvertently" drifted into Iranian waters, per Kerry, and the 10 sailors were taken by Iranians last Tuesday, Iran's military released footage of the troops with their hands behind their heads at gunpoint.
Though the sailors were released within 24 hours, the footage was inflammatory.
"I was very angry. I was very, very frustrated and angry that that was released," Kerry told John Berman on CNN's "New Day." "I raised it immediately with the Iranians. It was not put out by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or the government directly, it was put out I think by the military over there, the (Revolutionary Guard), who is opposed to what we are doing."
Also on Monday, the Navy released more information about how the incident, which lasted about 15 hours, played out.
As the footage showed, the soldiers were held at gunpoint on the ship by Iranian troops. The Navy said the troops were also under machine gunpoint from more Iranian troops on the responding ships.
No fire was exchanged during the incident, but there was what the Navy categorized as as "verbal exchange."
Bakuinfo.Az
