CNN's Jake Tapper confronts White House press secretary after Iran holds US soldiers in custody
Iran has apparently told the US that the sailors would be returned "promptly," but officials now say the sailors will spend the night in Iran, according to a CNN report. Iran reportedly detained the ships after they drifted into Iranian waters. The specifics of the incident remain unclear.
The sailors were reportedly on a training mission, officials told NBC.
Earnest attempted to assure viewers that the sailors are safe, while Tapper seemed somewhat incredulous.
After some back-and-forth, Tapper mentioned that certain sanctions on Iran are going to be lifted in a few days - the result of the Iran nuclear deal the Obama administration helped broker last year. Tapper noted that "this does not seem like a country that is ready to be welcome back into the community of nations."
"Certainly the United States has been concerned with the kind of provocative, destabilizing actions that have been a hallmark of Iranian behavior over the last several decades, in fact," Earnest said. "And that's why - that is why the United States and this president made it a priority to organize the international community to reach an agreement with Iran that will prevent them from obtaining a nuclear weapon."
Tapper pushed back, saying: "They have 10 American sailors in their custody right now, Josh. I mean, I think there are probably a lot of Americans watching this thinking, why are we about to give them sanction relief? They have 10 Americans in - wherever they have them. In a boat, in a cell, whatever."
Their exchange, edited for length, is below:
Earnest: I can tell you that US officials have been in touch with the Iranians about this situation. This is obviously a situation that we're monitoring closely. We've received assurances from the Iranians, both that our sailors are safe, that they're being - that they're afforded sort of the care - sort of the proper - courtesy that you'd expect. We've also most importantly received assurances they will be allowed to continue their journey promptly.
Tapper: Josh, I know there's only so much you can say about this developing story. But did the Iranians accuse the American sailors of being in their waters? Did they give any sort of reason for taking ten American sailors into captivity?
Earnest: Well, Jake, the circumstances, we're still learning more about the precise circumstances of this particular incident, so I don't want to say anything based on the first unconfirmed information we have at this point. The thing I can tell you we are watching this closely, and we have received assurances from the Iranians that our sailors are safe and that they will be allowed to continue their journey promptly.
Tapper: Josh, I know we booked you to talk about the State of the Union, and I will get to that because I know that you want to talk about that. But just one more question. What do you say to people who say, Iran fired upon - not on, didn't hit - but fired a warning shot of sorts, towards an American ship in the last couple of weeks. They test-fired, I believe, a ballistic missile in the last few weeks.
And yet in a few days, they're scheduled to have the relief of all of those sanctions. The basic question being, this does not seem look a country that is ready to be welcome back into the community of nations.
Earnest: That's right, Jake. And certainly the United States has been concerned with the kind of provocative, destabilizing actions that have been a hallmark of Iranian behavior over the last several decades, in fact. And that's why, - a, that is why the United States and this president made it a priority to organize the international community to reach an agreement with Iran that will prevent them from obtaining a nuclear weapon.
This agreement is actually the best way to ensure that Iran does not obtain a nuclear weapon. And based on them following through with their commitment to ship 98 percent of their uranium stockpile out of the country, which they followed through on - over the holidays, Iran right now actually doesn't even have the nuclear material necessary to build one nuclear weapon. And we all did all that without a single American shot being fired. So that's indication we're making some progress in countering the threat that is posed by Iran.
Tapper: I hear you, but they have 10 American sailors in their custody right now, Josh. I mean, I think there are probably a lot of Americans watching this thinking, why are we about to give them sanction relief? They have 10 Americans in - wherever they have them. In a boat, in a cell, whatever.
Earnest: Well, because these were sanctions that were imposed on Iran over their nuclear program. And as soon as Iran takes the steps they've committed to take, and those steps can be verified by international nuclear experts, then we'll know that Iran will not develop a nuclear weapon.
That said, Jake, we're going to continue to have sanctions in place against Iran because of their support for terrorism. We're going to have sanctions in place against Iran because of their continued development of their ballistic missile program. And we've been pretty clear about the fact that Iran is going to be subject to additional sanctions because of the tests they conducted at the end of last year.
So we continue to be concerned about this situation. That precisely is why the president made preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon a top national security priority, and we're making progress in actually accomplishing that goal.