Bush, Trump react to Iran seizing US sailors

U.S. Republican presidential candidates reacted on Tuesday (January 12) to reports Iran detained 10 U.S. sailors who were traveling from Kuwait to Bahrain.

Plans are in place for Iran to return the sailors to a U.S. Navy vessel in international waters early Wednesday (January 13), a U.S. defense official said late Tuesday.

Republican front-runner Donald Trump said the sailors’ capture was an indictment on the state of U.S. policies.

Trump: "They said they're going to release them. Oh isn't that nice. They're going to release them,"
Trump: “They said they’re going to release them. Oh isn’t that nice. They’re going to release them,”

“They said they’re going to release them. Oh isn’t that nice. They’re going to release them,” Trump told supporters at a campaign stop in Cedar Falls, Iowa.

“It literally just happened, and I think it’s not so good. It’s just, it’s just an indication of where the hell we’re going. I hope they get released, and fast,” he continued.

Bush, Trump react to Iran seizing US sailors (3)
Bush: “Obama’s humiliatingly weak Iran policy is exposed again”

Another Republican hopeful, Jeb Bush, also chimed in.

“If our sailors aren’t coming home yet, they need to be now. No more bargaining. Obama’s humiliatingly weak Iran policy is exposed again,” he wrote on Twitter.

The defense official said it was deemed safer to carry out the exchange in daylight. The plans call for Iran to bring the sailors to international waters, where they will be transferred to a vessel from the USS Harry S. Truman carrier strike group, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

It was not immediately clear what would happen with the two riverine patrol boats that the sailors – nine men and one woman – were on when they were detained by Iran. Iran had assured the U.S. government that the sailors were being treated well and there were no injuries, the official added. (Reuters)