Earlier on Tuesday the the U.S. Coast Guard cuttter Monomoy saved the crew of another Iranian vessel, this time in the northern Persian Gulf, who maydayed for help after it started flooding. "The cutter responded to flares and flashlights from the vessels in distress," reports CNN. "The six Iranians were taken on board and one was reported to have been treated for injuries. They were given water, blankets and food." If you feel like you've heard this before, that's because you have: just last week a U.S. Navy ship saved 13 Iranian fishermen from Somali pirates, "a humanitarian act" Iran's foreign ministry surprisingly said it appreciated, says CNN. It's a sad that those sailors' "water, blankets and food" are as close the U.S. gets to international aid for Iran, but that's the state of tensions in the gulf right now, where even small (maybe typical?) acts of goodwill like this between Iran and the U.S. are news. A more cynical take on today's rescue: the U.S. wouldn't even have the opportunity to save Iranian boaters if it didn't have to patrol the waters keep the Strait of Hormuz open in the first place. 

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