The U.S. Navy announced Friday it had rescued 13 Iranian fishermen being held by Somali pirates in the Arabian Sea, despite rising tensions between the U.S. and Iran.

An SH-60S Seahawk from the guided-missile destroyer USS Kidd detected the pirates while a simultaneous distress call was received from the Al Molai fishing vessel.

Video depicts a team from the Kidd boarding the ship Thursday and then detaining 15 suspected pirates who had been holding a 13-member Iranian crew hostage for several weeks.

"The Al Molai had been taken over by pirates for roughly the last 40 to 45 days," said Josh Schminky, a Navy Criminal Investigative Service agent aboard the Kidd. "They were held hostage, with limited rations, and we believe were forced against their will to assist the pirates with other piracy operations."

The Navy reports that Iranian boat had been pirated and used as a "mother ship" for pirate operations throughout the Persian Gulf, according to members of the Iranian vessel's crew./p>

"When we boarded, we gave them food, water, and medical care," Schminky said. "They had been through a lot. We went out of our way to treat the fishing crew with kindness and respect."

The pirates were detained until transferred to the USS John C. Stennis, where the matter will be reviewed for prosecution.

"The captain of the Al Molai expressed his sincere gratitude that we came to assist them. He was afraid that without our help, they could have been there for months," Schminky said.

Earlier this week the U.S. responded to an Iranian military leader's warning to keep an American carrier out of the Persian Gulf, declaring that the U.S. will continue efforts in the region.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/01/06/us-navy-rescues-13-iranian-fishermen-held-by-pirates/#ixzz1ihgQDbRa

Get over it cause by Saturday morning EST (if not before) Ahmadinejad and company will have figured out a plan to make our lives a living hell.

I know, I have been waiting to hear a response from Iran on this incident. They will probably say we invaded their ship in an act of war to interrogate the occupants or some BS.

Me dost believe we be on the same page Ollie.

TEHRAN – Iran's foreign ministry on Saturday labeled the U.S. Navy's rescue of 13 Iranians from pirates who had hijacked a fishing vessel a "humanitarian and positive" act.

"We consider the actions of the U.S. forces in saving the lives of Iranian seamen to be a humanitarian and positive act and we welcome such behavior. We think all nations should display such behavior," Iran's foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast told broadcaster al Alam.

U.S. forces rescued the Iranian sailors Thursday after a Navy helicopter spotted a suspicious skiff alongside an Iranian-flagged boat and picked up a distress signal from its captain.

Ironically, the forces that came to assist the sailors were assigned to the USS John C. Stennis strike group -- the same aircraft carrier that was subject to an Iranian threat just days earlier amid heightened tensions between Washington and Tehran over the Islamic Republic's pledge to close the Strait of Hormuz.

A counter-piracy team from the Navy destroyer USS Kidd boarded and detained 15 pirates who had been holding the boat's crew hostage for more than a month, using their ship, the Al Molai, as a launch pad to mount raids on other vessels.

The captured pirates were put on board the Stennis while authorities considered prosecuting them.

The rescue came just days after Iran's army chief warned the Stennis against returning to the Strait of Hormuz, a key shipping route for up to 20 percent of the world's oil.

The aircraft carrier, one of the largest in the U.S. fleet, had vacated the area while Iran's navy conducted war games in the Persian Gulf for ten days.

U.S. officials have dismissed the threat of closing the waterway as an increasingly isolated Iran lashing out at the international community.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/01/07/iran-hails-us-rescue-sailors-as-humanitarian-and-positive-act/#ixzz1inSYJXI3

That's funny, this is the same group of ships that Iran was treatening a few days ago!

America should work on doing more real humane acts for people and try to improve their nasty reputation they earned during the Bush administration.

In all fairness to Obama he has changed the way the world looks at America for the better.

GWB (Administration) while in power gave America a really bad name.

Anyways, he has continued the majority of the stuff President Bush passed to keep this country safe.

America has never been in danger.