White House - Pleased Iran released sailors, still has concerns

ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE (Reuters) - The White House is pleased that Iran released 10 U.S. sailors it had detained but continues to have concerns about Tehran's sponsorship of terrorism and threats to Israel, a spokesman said on Wednesday. White House spokesman Josh Earnest said he was not aware of any discussions between Washington and Tehran about a U.S. apology for the incident and noted one "certainly" had not been given. Earnest said U.S. President Barack Obama had not mentioned the incident during his State of the Union address on Tuesday night so as not to elevate the issue and jeopardise the sailors' release. (Reporting by Roberta Rampton; Writing by Jeff Mason; Editing by Susan Heavey)