(Image source: The New York Times)

BY STEVEN SPARKMAN

Lately, it’s rare for a story involving Iranians and the U.S. Navy to be good news. But as tensions rise in the region, Iranian officials have welcomed the U.S. Navy’s rescue of an Iranian fishing boat. Here’s MSNBC with a recap of the rescue mission.

“In this dramatic U.S. Navy video, a heavily-armed team of American sailors closes in on the Iranian boat to rescue the 13 Iranians held hostage by pirates. … Once on board, the U.S. sailors get a hero’s welcome. One Iranian, overcome with emotion, embraces his liberators.”

The Iranians told the rescue team they had been captured around 45 days ago when armed Somali pirates boarded their vessel, the Al Molai. The Christian Science Monitor reports they were held in harsh conditions.

“The pirates had turned the Al Molai into a mother ship, which was being used to conduct piracy operations in the region. … Some members of the Iranian crew also appear to have been forced ‘against their will to assist the pirates with other piracy operations...’”

When the Somalis saw the sailors approaching, they threw their weapons overboard and surrendered without a single shot being fired. But what does all this mean for US/Iran relations? The BBC has reactions from within Iran.

“[Iran’s Foreign Minister] has described the US Navy's rescue … as a ‘humanitarian gesture’. … But Iran's Fars news agency expressed suspicion about the operation, saying it was ‘like a Hollywood film’ which ‘seems to have been pre-organised’.”

Fars went on to say that Iran rescues foreign nationals from pirates all the time, but doesn’t feel a need to make such a big deal about it. Well, if the rescue itself was a bitter pill for Fars, there’s another twist in this story that really drives it home.

A Fox News intelligence analyst explains.

Catherine Herridge: “In recent days, the Iranians have directly threatened the Stennis Carrier Strike Group, warning it not to come back to the Persian Gulf. And these threats came as Iran ramped up its naval exercises in the Straight of Hormuz, and now Iranian officials are threatening more exercises as a show of force. What’s ironic is that it was the Stennis Strike Group that rescued the Iranian fishermen, who had limited food, water, and medical supplies.”

Check out the New York Times article for an in-depth account of the mission. You can find the link in our transcript.