U.S. naval forces aided a stranded Iranian fishing crew in the Persian Gulf Tuesday after the dhow's engine overheated.

The U.S. Navy says the USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group responded at mid-day Tuesday to a distress call from a fishing boat carrying nine Iranian mariners.

U.S. naval engineers boarded the Iranian dhow to find a broken fan belt in the engine and a damaged propeller. Navy divers were flown in to fix the dhow, and the Iranian crew went on its way.

The commander of the Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group, Rear Admiral Mike Shoemaker, said his team of sailors includes engineers and divers who are prepared to respond to any engineering or medical emergencies.

This is the third U.S. rescue of Iranian fishermen this month. A U.S. warship rescued six Iranian mariners after their vessel broke down off the coast of Iraq two weeks ago. At the beginning of January, U.S. naval forces rescued 13 Iranian fishermen held by pirates in the north Arabian Sea.