Jan. 10, 2012
American sailors have come to the rescue of distressed Iranian fishermen for the second time in less than a week, the Pentagon said Tuesday.
The United States Coast Guard cutter Monomoy "picked up six Iranian mariners after their vessel broke down" in the Persian Gulf Tuesday, the BBC reported Tuesday.
At about 3AM local time, the Coast Guard vessel "was hailed by flares and flashlights from the Iranian cargo dhow, Ya-Hussayn," the U.S. Navy Fifth Fleet public affairs report said. The Iranian fishing "dhow's master requested assistance from Monomoy indicating the engine room was flooding and deemed not seaworthy."
The "Monomoy immediately launched their small boat and approached the Ya-Hussayn," the Pentagon report said. "Two persons were rescued from the vessel, and four from a life raft tied off to the dhow's stern."
The six Iranian fishermen were taken aboard the Monomoy and given water, blankets and halal meals, the Pentagon said. One Iranian sailor received medical treatment for minor burns.
The latest American rescue of Iranian fisherman came just five days after a U.S. Navy ship belonging to U.S.S. John C. Stennis aircraft carrier strike group freed 13 Iranian fishermen from Somali pirates in the Arabian sea. The American sailors gave clothes, food and water to the freed Iranian fishermen, who had been held hostage by their Somali captors for six weeks.
"It is like you were sent by God," one of the freed Iranian fisherman, Fazel ur Rehman, told the American sailors, the New York Times' CJ Chivers reported.
Iran's foreign ministry on Saturday praised that Navy rescue effort, calling it "a humanitarian gesture."
http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/envoy/u-ship-rescues-iranian-fishermen-again-174041301.html
