Iran plans to immortalise captured Bahrain-bound US sailors

Manama: Iran is planning to build statues of the Bahrain-based US sailors, who were captured in Iranian waters earlier this year, western media reported.

“The statue is likely to be built on Kharg, a small Iranian island in the Arabian Gulf not far from where the sailors were captured. The monument could feature as a stop for travellers on the Rahian-e-Nour, a semi-mandatory pro-regime pilgrimage that takes visitors to historical spots from the Iran-Iraq war and extols the virtues of the Iranian military,” according to a report published by the Telegraph recently.

Iranian media reported that Revolutionary Guard’s Naval Forces Head Commander Ali Fadavi said,  “the monument of the surrendering Americans would be a tourist attraction.”

“There are many photographs of the major incident of arresting US Marines in the Gulf in the media. We plan to build a symbol out of them inside one of our naval monuments,” he told Iran’s Defence Press news agency.

Western reports also predicted that “the construction of the statue would fit with a pattern of provocative behaviour intended to demonstrate that the Iranian Revolutionary Guard are still a major player.”

The Telegraph added that “the provocative proposal is likely to cause outrage in the US and be seized on by the Republicans opposed to President Barack Obama’s nuclear agreement with Iran.”

DT News reported in January that 10 Bahrain-based American sailors, who were en-route to Bahrain from Kuwait, were captured and later released by the Iranian Armed Forces. The Pentagon stated that the sailors were captured after their boats drifted into Iranian waters due to mechanical issues on their boat. However, they were all released one day later, following telephone calls between the US and Iranian Foreign Ministers.