Manama (Bahrain), Aug 31 (DPA) A traditional wooden ship with Indian crew sailing from the United Arab Emirates toward Bahrain was the target of the first act of sea piracy reported in Persian Gulf waters in years, according to details of the attack that emerged Sunday.

The Bahraini dhow was intercepted Friday night by another ship with an armed crew, security sources said.

The four pirates threatened the six-man Indian crew with guns and assaulted them before taking their cargo of fish and mobile phones, sources said. The crew members said they believed the pirates were Iranian, but their nationality could not be positively confirmed.

The Indian sailors were unharmed. They were released and arrived in a Bahraini port on Sunday.

The case represents the first time an act of piracy has been reported inside the Gulf since the issue of piracy again came to the forefront of international attention off the Somali coast in recent years.

In recent months Somali pirates had expanded their operations beyond the Somali coast line and the Gulf of Aden reaching areas as far as the east coast of Oman and the Arabian Sea.