Tehran welcomes U.S. rescue of Iranians from Somali pirates
Iran’s Foreign Ministry on Saturday welcomed the U.S. Navy’s rescue of 13 Iranian fishermen held hostage by Somali pirates in the Arabian Sea, calling it a humanitarian act.
But the hard-line Fars news agency, which is close to Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guard, dismissed the rescue as a Hollywood-style propaganda stunt intended to justify the U.S. Navy's presence in the nearby Persian Gulf.
U.S. officials announced the rescue Friday, saying sailors from the guided-missile destroyer Kidd had boarded an Iranian dhow Thursday and detained 15 Somalis after one of the fishermen was able to reveal in a radio communication that his vessel's crew was being held captive.
The U.S. officials pointed out that the destroyer was part of the same group of warships that Tehran had said was no longer welcome in the Persian Gulf.
More at: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/world_now/2012/01/tehran-welcomes-us-rescue-of-iranians-from-somali-pirates.html
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