Iran released a set of videos of U.S. sailors who were released Wednesday after being captured and detained overnight, raising questions about whether the country’s hard-line military force mistreated the Americans or violated international law by using them for propaganda purposes.
One video, broadcast on Iranian television and released world-wide, showed several Americans kneeling, with their hands clasped behind their heads. Another showed a U.S. service member speaking to a questioner, admitting wrongdoing and apologizing.
Obama administration officials have said their initial determination is that the 10 sailors were treated well and with respect after Iranian forces detained their two small Navy boats in the Persian Gulf on Tuesday. But the videos depicted questionable actions by Iran’s elite military force, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
The Geneva Conventions, which govern military conflicts, ban the practice of parading prisoners for purposes of “insults” and propaganda. The State Department said Wednesday afternoon that U.S. officials were looking into the videos and would respond if the U.S. determined that the sailors were treated inappropriately.
“We’ve seen no indications thus far that they were mistreated during their period of detention,” State Department spokesman Mark Toner said. “As we look at this, we’ll continue to assess and, as appropriate, comment further on how we view their treatment.”
Both the U.S. and Iran touted the swift resolution of the incident—the sailors were released less than 24 hours after they were detained—as a product of the closer ties they have built in the negotiating of the Iranian nuclear deal and a potential model for the future.
“I think we can all imagine how a similar situation might have played out three or four years ago,” Secretary of State John Kerry said in a speech at the National Defense University. “It is clear that today is a testament to the critical role that diplomacy plays in keeping our country safe, secure and strong.”
The diplomatic scramble headed off a potential military confrontation. A U.S. military official said Wednesday that a plan for a possible, eventual rescue was being assembled but was “throttled back” as the State Department neared a diplomatic solution.
Mr. Kerry noted that until recently, the two sides hadn’t spoken in 35 years.
The State Department has yet to determine whether the Geneva Conventions apply in this case, or whether the treatment of the sailors shown in the video is in violation of the international treaties, which governs the treatment of war prisoners.
ENLARGE Regardless, some U.S. lawmakers described the arrest and detention of the 10 U.S. sailors as unjustifiable, and assailed the White House and State Department for praising Iran over the episode.
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