An absolutely wild showdown in the northern Indian Ocean between Somali pirates and the Iranian navy appears to have ended with with the Iranians taking one of the world's most infamous pirates captive.

Over the weekend, Mohamed Garad made an ill-fated attempt at hijacking the Xianghuamen, a Panamanian-flagged cargo ship belonging to a Chinese shipping company. Garad may have thought it was his next big haul; some of his earlier ones earned him million-dollar paydays. Instead, Iranian sailors – believe it or not, the good guys of this story – overpowered his crew and clapped him in irons.

Who is Garad? "He was like Carlos the Jackal in the crime world," Andrew Mwangura of the East African Seafarers Association told Africa Review, which reported Garad's capture. We're unable to independently corroborate that report, though.

According to David F. Marley's Modern Piracy: A Handbook, the "secretive" Garad – it's not his real name; it means "clan leader" – worked his way up from hijacking small vessels near the Somali fishing port of Eyl to seizing a Japanese bulk carrier, the Stella Maris, for 11 weeks in 2008 before its owners paid him $2 million. Not many people have interviewed Garad. During one of his rare interviews, Marley recounts, Garad appeared "ragged" and his eyes were "scratched raw by constant rubbing – a textbook case of khat withdrawal," according to interviewer Jay Bahadur.

Garad may have been on drugs if he underestimated the Iranian navy. Even the chief naval officer of the United States, Iran's number-one enemy, has respect for it. "Professional, courteous [and] good mariners," was how Adm. Jonathan Greenert summed up his Iranian opposites in March. That wasn't evidently on Garad's mind this weekend.

On Friday morning, a crew of nine Somali pirates near the Iranian port of Chabahar took over the Xianghuamen and its crew of 28. One of its terrified mates hid "in the incinerator," state-owned Xinhua reported.

Big mistake. The Xianghuamen is owned by the Nanjing Ocean Shipping Company in eastern China. China is Iran's last remaining great-power ally. The Iranian navy got busy.

Chaos emerged when an as-yet-identified Iranian ship approached and hailed later that day. The Chinese captain, at gunpoint, was forced to announce that there were 22 pirates aboard, not nine, and that unless the Iranians stayed 20 miles away, the crew would be "punished." What the pirates didn't count on was the presence of a second Chinese ship alongside the Iranians – allowing the captain to relay accurate information in Chinese, which the pirates didn't speak.

The Iranians let off shots to signal their seriousness. With that, Xianghuamen crew members killed the engines on their own ship and jumped into the ocean.. The captain actually followed them after panicked pirates beat him. (Yes, the captain abandoned ship while his crew was still held hostage. Where's the Italian coast guard when you need it?)

That was the beginning of the end of the daylong showdown. As the Iranian vessel kept firing and approached the dead-in-the-water Xianghuamen, the pirates had a change of heart. They threw their weapons overboard and surrendered.

This isn't the first time Iranian mariners have concerned themselves with pirates. As the pirates have moved aggressively into the northern Indian Ocean, Iran's navy has stepped up patrols and maritime surveillance, even joining in international counter-piracy patrols.

In case you're feeling uncomfortable about rooting for the Iranians here, don't. Piracy may be unique in international affairs for its ability to bring enemies together. Pakistan has saved Indian sailors from Somali pirates. China and Taiwan, same thing. The U.S. Navy saved Iranian sailors practically every weekend in January. Cats and dogs living together, mass hysteria, etc.

Meanwhile, it's unclear if the Iranians really have Garad. So far, only Africa Review is reporting it. But if Garad is in Iranian hands, he might not like the kind of justice they dispense to thieves.