TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman has welcomed the U.S. Navy's rescue of 13 Iranian fishermen held by pirates.
Ramin Mehmanparast was quoted by state TV's Al-Alam Arabic channel as saying the rescue was a "humanitarian" gesture by the American warship and Iran welcomes that.
But the hard-line Fars news agency called the rescue operation a Hollywood dramatization of a routine incident.
U.S. officials announced Friday that the fishermen had been rescued by a U.S. Navy destroyer the day before, more than 40 days after their boat was commandeered by suspected Somali pirates in the northern Arabian Sea.
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