Awarding the Fath Medal to Commanders Involved in the Detention of American Sailors

On Sunday, February 11, Ayatollah Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Republic, received commanders of the IRGC involved in the detention of American sailors and honored them by awarding the "Fath Medal." Five IRGC commanders, including the commander of the IRGC Navy, are among the recipients of this medal. According to images published on Ayatollah Khamenei's website, Admiral Ali Fadavi, the commander of the IRGC Navy, received the first-class Fath Medal, while another commander received the second-class Fath Medal. Three other IRGC commanders were also honored with the third-class Fath Medal. The "Fath Medal" is awarded by the leader of the Islamic Republic to "fighters in battles with significant victories." The awarding of the "Fath Medal" to commanders involved in the detention of American sailors comes as Ayatollah Khamenei praised this action as brave and commendable during a meeting with the IRGC personnel who detained the sailors in the Persian Gulf last week. At that time, the Iranian leader's office released images of this meeting, showing that in addition to several IRGC naval personnel, high-ranking military commanders of Iran, including the commanders of the Army and IRGC, were also present. In this meeting, the Iranian leader described the actions of the IRGC forces as "excellent, interesting, and timely," adding that "this incident should be considered the work of God, bringing the Americans into our waters so that they could be detained by your timely action with their hands raised." On the website of Ayatollah Khamenei's office, the detained American sailors were referred to as "invaders," and this action was described as a "brave and timely" act during the "seizure of American vessels and the detention of invading American Marines in the vicinity of Farsi Island." The website also reported that he agreed to "encourage the rank and seniority of other commanders and personnel involved in this operation at the request of the General Staff of the Armed Forces." The U.S. Department of Defense reported late on January 22 that Iran had two American boats along with their sailors but U.S. officials received assurances from Tehran that the sailors would be released immediately and safely with their boats. The detained sailors were released the next day according to the IRGC's announcement, and both the IRGC and the U.S. Department of Defense emphasized the unintentional nature of the incident. The detention of American sailors in Iranian waters recalls a similar event in April 2007 when Iranian naval forces detained 15 British sailors "for entering Iranian waters." The news of their release, which sparked a widespread crisis in Tehran-London relations, was announced by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the then-President of Iran. Ahmadinejad also awarded the "third-class honor medal" to the commander of the IRGC naval border guards for the detention of the 15 British sailors in the Persian Gulf. Two years later, during Ahmadinejad's election debates, he claimed that the release of these sailors occurred following a formal apology from then-British Prime Minister Tony Blair, a claim that Blair denied.