A U.S. Navy ship in the northern Arabian Sea has rescued 13 Iranian sailors who had been held captive by pirates for several weeks, the Navy says in a statement.
The statement says the guided-missile destroyer USS Kidd on Thursday came upon a pirate skiff alongside the Iranian-flagged fishing vessel, the Al Molai, at about the same time that the master of the Iranian ship sent out a distress call claiming he was being held captive by pirates.
A team from the Kidd boarded the Al Molai and detained 15 suspected pirates who had apparently been holding the Iranian crew hostage for several weeks, the Navy says.
The statement says the pirates did not resist and quickly surrendered.
"The Al Molai had been taken over by pirates for roughly the last 40-45 days," said Josh Schminky, a Naval Criminal Investigative Service agent aboard the Kidd, the statement says. "They were held hostage, with limited rations, and we believe were forced against their will to assist the pirates with other piracy operations."
The pirates were transferred today to the USS John C. Stennis, pending further legal action.
"The captain of the Al Molai expressed his sincere gratitude that we came to assist them," Schminky said. "He was afraid that without our help, they could have been there for months."
CNN notes that Iranian officials, earlier this week, warned the United States over the presence of the Stennis in the area.
The state-run news agency IRNA quoted Maj. Gen. Ataollah Salehi as saying that Tehran was "ready to severely react against any threat" if the Stennis returned to the Persian Gulf, where it had been patrolling before moving to the Arabian Sea, according to U.S. officials, CNN reports.
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