Despite Iranian threats warning the U.S. Navy to keep its distance from the Strait of Hormuz, for the second time in a week the U.S. military has rescued distressed Iranian mariners in the Gulf waters.
In the early morning hours of January 10th the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Monomoy responded to flares fired from the Iranian cargo dhow, Ya-Hussayn, which was experiencing engine troubles 50 miles off the coast of Iraq.
Monomoy launched their small boat and rescued two men off the dhow and four others tied to a life raft off the stern.
In all, six Iranians were taken off the boat, one of whom is being treated for severe burns he suffered in the engine room, according to Pentagon Spokesman George Little. All of the men were provided water, blankets, and halal meals and were later transferred to the Iranian Coast Guard vessel Naji 7.
According to a Navy press release, Hakim Hamid-Awi, the owner of the Iranian dhow, told the Coast Guard’s Rescue Coordination Center that “without your help, we were dead. Thank you for all that you did for us.”
The Captain of the Naji 7 also thanked the Coast Guard for their cooperation, according to the release.
The rescue comes five days after the USS Stennis strike group rescued 13 Iranian fishermen held hostage by pirates for nearly two months in the North Arabian Sea.
Video released by the U.S. Navy shows a team from the guided-missile destroyer USS Kidd boarding the ship and facing no resistance as they apprehended 15 Somali pirates.
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2 Responses
Note that the Navy had “hallal” meals in stock, and the Iranians accepted the “hecksher.”
There are many reasons to believe that the Iranian government’s confrontational policies, which threaten to ignite a full scale war (they block an international waterway, sink the Iranian navy and bomb Iran back into the stone age) are not popular with the Iranian people (note the unwillingness of the Iranian government to have a fair election), and the Navy is obviously trying hard to “play” to what they hope is a “silent majority” of Iranians who don’t support the current regime.
I spent 3 years at sea as a merchant seaman too many decades ago – mariners have a camaraderie that those who have never been to sea would not understand. There are many stories, some of which I heard personally from WWII vets, about how American and German sailors helped each other after the guns/depth charges fell silent and one or the other side in the encounter prevailed.
A relevant historical note: During the Nuremberg trials, German Admiral Karl Doenitz was, correctly I think, acquitted of war crimes charges leveled against him because of unlimited submarine warfare practiced by the U-Boats he commanded – the acquittal was due to defense testimony volunteered by U.S. Vice Admiral C.A. Lockwood, Commander Submarines, Pacific in WWII…that such warfare was necessary to protect a submarine force…and that we used the same tactics against the Japanese.