Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei has commended as timely and praiseworthy the “brave” move by the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) forces in arresting US Marines who trespassed into Iran’s territorial waters.

Ayatollah Khamenei received on Sunday the IRGC naval forces who arrested 10 US sailors after their patrol boats entered the country’s territorial waters on January 12.

The Leader stated that the praiseworthy measure by the IRGC forces stemmed from their faith and courage and was taken in the right time.

Ayatollah Khamenei added that the capture of the US sailors “was in fact an act of God, who brought the Americans into our waters so they would be arrested with their hands on their heads through your timely measure.”

On January 13, the IRGC announced that ten US Marines, who had drifted into the country's territorial waters in the Persian Gulf and had been taken into Iranian custody, had been released after Americans apologized for the incident.

Earlier the same day, Rear Admiral Ali Fadavi, the commander of the IRGC Navy, said two US Navy crafts carrying 10 Marines had reached three miles into the waters surrounding the Farsi Island in the Persian Gulf.

Fadavi added that the trespassing occurred because of technical problems with the navigation systems of the American vessels.