JERUSALEM (JTA) — Iran’s Red Crescent will attempt to break Israel’s naval blockade by sending a relief ship to the Gaza Strip.
Secretary-General Seyed Ahmad Moussavi said Wednesday in a statement on the Iranian Red Crescent Web site that the organization will send 1,000 tons of food and medical supplies on a ship to Gaza at the beginning of next week, the French news agency reported. The announcement did not appear on the site in English.
Moussavi acknowledged that the Iranian ship could be turned back by the Israeli navy like a Libyan ship loaded with supplies last month. The Libyan ship was officially turned back, according to Israeli officials, because Israel does not have diplomatic relations with that country. The secretary-general did not say under what nationality the Red Crescent ship would be registered.
Egypt has refused to allow the Iranian Red Crescent to send relief items to Gaza by air, Moussavi said in the statement.
Iran is a supporter of the Palestinian terrorist organization Hamas, which controls Gaza.
