[jolepp]

Just days after Iran warned them not to return to the Gulf, U.S. naval forces in the nearby Arabian Sea rescued 13 Iranian fishermen who were held hostage by pirates for more than a month, the Navy said on Friday.

Forces with the USS John C. Stennis aircraft carrier strike group - the target of threats by Tehran on Tuesday amid heated tensions with the United States - said they freed the Iranians without firing a shot. Fifteen pirates believed to be from Somalia were taken prisoner.

The fishermen were sent home with food and fuel, wearing baseball caps with the name of the U.S. warship that freed them.
...

Navy rescues Iranians held by pirates | Reuters

edit:

...
A reporter for the New York Times newspaper who was travelling travelling on the Stennis boarded the Iranian fishing vessel, the Al Mulahi, and spoke with its crew and several of the pirates.
...

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-01-08/iran-reax-to-us-pirate-rescue/3762668

The NYT story: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/07/world/middleeast/for-iranians-held-by-pira...he-rescue.html

---

Last edited by jolepp; 01-07-2012 at 07:04 AM.

[Parallax]

I give it two days before al jazera and Iranian news outlets report that they were rescued by pirates after having been captured an tortured by the U.S. Navy.

[séamuis]

I give it two days before al jazira and Iranian news outlets report that they were rescued by pirates after having been captured an tortured by the U.S. Navy.

I can't speak for Iranian news agencies, but you should give more credit to AlJazeera, they are a more credible and trustworthy news source than most of the 'news' agencies here in the states.

US navy frees Iranians held by pirates - Middle East - Al Jazeera English

إيران ترحب بإنقاذ أميركا لبحارتها "Iran welcomes U.S. rescue of the crew."

[jolepp]

The Iranian government has welcomed a US Navy rescue of 13 of its nationals from pirates near the entrance to the Gulf, in a rare respite from months of rising tensions between Tehran and Washington.

But one Iranian media outlet, the Fars news agency, which is close to the hardline Revolutionary Guards, dismissed the incident as a suspect "Hollywood movie" meant "to justify the presence of a (US) aircraft carrier in Persian Gulf waters."
...
"We consider the actions of the US forces in saving the lives of the Iranian seamen to be a humanitarian and positive act and we welcome such behaviour," foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast told Iran's Arabic-language broadcaster Al-Alam on Saturday.
"We think all nations should display such behaviour," he added.
...

Iran welcomes 'humanitarian' rescue from pirates - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Iran has described the US Navy's rescue of 13 Iranian fishermen held by Somali pirates as a "humanitarian gesture". Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said his country had also rescued foreign sailors from pirates on occasion.

But he said such acts did not affect overall relations between countries.
...

BBC News - Iran describes US Navy rescue as 'humanitarian'

I suppose that amounts to a (somewhat grudging) admission of this being a good thing .

[wasser]

Iran welcomes 'humanitarian' rescue from pirates - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

BBC News - Iran describes US Navy rescue as 'humanitarian'

I suppose that amounts to a (somewhat grudging) admission of this being a good thing .

But it seems not such a sincere admission. This is from the first link:

Iran's official IRNA news agency initially said a US warship had only "claimed" to have carried out the rescue, and that Iranian military leaders had not confirmed it.

The Fars news agency then reported that the rescue was nothing more than a "Hollywood movie" that was the object of a "media blitz" by the Pentagon.

"Iran's navy has on so many occasions rescued foreign ships from pirates, but they have never been praised and hailed by foreign media, not that Iranian navy officials were looking for propaganda," Fars said.

"There is suspicion and doubt about this American action, which seems to have been pre-organised," it said.

"It was more like a Hollywood film with a fixed location and specific actors," said Fars, highlighting that the US navy had provided video of the incident.

"This shows the Americans were looking at using it for propaganda advantage," it added.

[wasser]

An interesting tidbit:

One of the vessels involved is the USS Kidd (DDG-100). The previously named USS Kidd (DDG-993, not the one in the rescue), was originally to be sold to the Shah of Iran, but wasn't because of the revolution. The former DDG-993 is in the Taiwan Navy.

USS Kidd (DDG-993) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
USS Kidd (DDG-100) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[kswier]

QuoteQuote:
Just days after Iran warned them not to return to the Gulf, U.S. naval forces in the nearby Arabian Sea rescued 13 Iranian fishermen who were held hostage by pirates for more than a month, the Navy said on Friday.

Forces with the USS John C. Stennis aircraft carrier strike group - the target of threats by Tehran on Tuesday amid heated tensions with the United States - said they freed the Iranians without firing a shot. Fifteen pirates believed to be from Somalia were taken prisoner.

The fishermen were sent home with food and fuel, wearing baseball caps with the name of the U.S. warship that freed them.

Finally some good publicity for the United States in that portion of the world. It would be nice if we could use this as a starting point of building a more friendly relationship with Iran (or at least a cordial relationship). Yes, I am dreaming. But if we stop dreaming, then all hope is lost.

[Checking...jono]

Agreed. It can't be a bad thing. Also, in agreement with earlier post that AlJazeera is a surprisingly good and accurate source for world news.

[jolepp]

A US ship has picked up Iranians in trouble at sea, in the second such rescue in less than a week, the Pentagon has said.
US Coast Guard cutter Monomoy rescued six Iranian mariners after their vessel broke down in the Gulf.
...
In the latest incident, the six Iranians were some 50 miles (90km) south-east of the Iraqi port of Umm Qasr when they got into trouble early on Tuesday, Mr Little said.

The crew used flares and flashlights to hail the passing Monomoy. The vessel's master indicated "that the engine room was flooding and [the ship was] not seaworthy", Mr Little added.

The Pentagon said the Iranian mariners would be repatriated, although it has not yet been determined how.
...

BBC News - US ships 'in second rescue of Iranians in Gulf'

edit: actually it seems there is a whole new thread on this here (discussion should go there).