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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| Experts: Iran's arrest of U.S. sailors broke international law |
| 2016-06-30 |
| [Navy Times] Iran’s supreme leader is hailing his hard-line paramilitary forces as heroes for their arrest of 10 American sailors at gunpoint, but an emerging consensus of U.S. legal experts believe the provocative act was a dangerous violation of international law that has so far gone without repercussions. The U.S. riverine boats had the right to pass expeditiously through Iran's territorial waters under the right of innocent passage without being boarded and arrested so long as they weren't engaged in a military operation such as spying. Pentagon officials have said the riverine boat crews mistakenly entered Iran's waters in the Persian Gulf due to a "navigation error" while en route to a refueling. Their arrests nearly derailed the months of nuclear deal negotiations with Iran and U.S. officials quickly secured the sailors' release. But only hours after their release, Iran's hardliners released propaganda videos of the sailors in custody. Iran did not have the legal standing to arrest the sailors at gunpoint and that demands a U.S. response, said one expert. "This should be very concerning for the Navy community," said James Kraska, a maritime law expert at the U.S. Naval War College. "This says that U.S. vessels don’t have innocent passage and that their sovereign immunity is not respected." |
| Posted by:Besoeker |
| #6 well gosh golly gee gumdrops |
| Posted by: swksvolFF 2016-06-30 19:22 |
| #5 Grab a gaggle of lawyers and head for the Hague!!! |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2016-06-30 17:29 |
| #4 The savages, however, find them very useful |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2016-06-30 15:21 |
| #3 a dangerous violation of international law Ranks right up there with beheadings and live-burning captives. Geneva and the social contracts of International Law are dead and not protecting the civilized world against savages. |
| Posted by: Skidmark 2016-06-30 15:16 |
| #2 Oooooh!! Experts!!!! At least that rules out Hillarious & JF'nK. |
| Posted by: AlanC 2016-06-30 14:15 |
| #1 "we'll issue a strong statement, then thank them again for their treatment" |
| Posted by: Frank G 2016-06-30 13:44 |