Andrew Dubois

Staff Writer

    On January 15th, the United States Navy took fifteen suspected pirates into custody and rescued thirteen Iranian sailors from the Al Molai, a fishing boat that had been under the control of the pirates for at least forty days. The United States responded to a distress call from the ship and a Navy team boarded the ship detaining the pirates who had been holding the crew hostage.

    Less than a week after the Al Molai was rescued, the United States Navy rescued the Ya-Hussayn and the six Iranian mariners on it. The Ya-Hussayn was fifty miles east of the Iraqi port of Ummm Qasr when the crew used flares and flashlights to signal a passing US ship. The engine room was flooding and the ship was sinking.

    Due to proposed economic sanctions against Iran in response to its disputed nuclear enrichment program, tension has been escalating over the past month between the United States and Iran. The United States is reluctant to let Iran proceed with their nuclear enrichment program because once Iran has a enrichment program they may start producing weapons of mass destruction.

    According to a US Navy spokesman, the US routinely rescues sailors in danger but decided to highlight these two incidents in an act of good will toward Iran who has recently warned the US not to send any warships into the Persian Gulf. The US responded to Iran by warning them that we will resist any attempt made by Iran to close the Strait of Hormuz. This strait is the passageway for one fifth of the world’s oil trade and if it was shut down by Iran, international economies would be further distressed.

    The Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman said in a statement: "The rescue of Iranian sailors by American forces is considered a humanitarian gesture and we welcome this behavior." However it remains to be seen what major effects these rescues might have on the United States relationship with Iran, if any at all.