Tehran – Muharram 18/ January 15, 2009 – The Israeli Navy intercepted an Iranian ship loaded with medicine, food and clothing destined for Gaza and forced the vessel to Egypt instead, Iran’s state television reported yesterday. Meanwhile, in a gesture of support with the Palestinians in Gaza, Iran’s top leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei issued a religious opinion, or fatwa, declaring the purchase of any Israeli goods or trade with Israeli companies to be forbidden.
Israel’s offensive in Gaza, which Palestinian medical officials say has killed more than 1,000 Palestinians since December 27, has sparked outrage in Iran and throughout the Muslim world. Israel has said it launched its campaign to stop rocket fire by Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip. Iran is Hamas’ main backer, providing it political and financial support. The head of the humanitarian aid group sponsoring the ship, Ahmad Navabi, said in comments aired on television yesterday that the Israeli Navy approached the cargo ship, Shahed, just 20 miles off the coast of Gaza at dawn yesterday, and ordered it to turn back.
“An Israeli warship approached our cargo ship and warned us not to approach Gaza. We could see the lights at Gaza coast. We were forced to change route toward an Egyptian port,” Navabi said. Israeli military officials said the ship was prevented from reaching Gaza as part of a general naval blockade meant to prevent weapons smuggling, and not due to the boat’s Iranian origins.
The Israeli officials said an Israeli naval ship approached the vessel, conveyed by radio the message of the blockade of Gaza, and told the crew they would not be allowed in. There was no clash, the Israeli officials said. Iranian state television broadcast what they said was a radio exchange between the Israeli Navy and the Iranian ship in which the Israelis said: “Gaza is closed. Leave the area immediately.” The ship was carrying 2,000 tons of medicine, food and clothing to Palestinians living in Gaza. Iran’s Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said later yesterday that Iran will do what it can to get the ship to Gaza, state television reported.
This is the first Iranian boat to try to reach Gaza during the siege. On Dec. 30, a boat carrying activists and medical supplies to Gaza was turned back after an altercation with the Israeli Navy. Israeli officials said the boat tried to outmaneuver an Israeli Navy ship and crashed into it, lightly damaging both vessels. But activists on the ship said the Israeli vessel rammed the ship, which returned to Lebanon. That trip was organized by the Free Gaza group, which previously made five deliveries of aid by boat to Gaza since August, defying a blockade imposed by Israel and Egypt when Hamas won control of the territory in June 2007. The activist group yesterday sent another boat loaded with supplies to Gaza from Cyprus after a previous effort on Monday was aborted due to rough weather and engine trouble. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said yesterday Iran has stepped up diplomatic efforts to push for an end to the Israeli assault on Gaza, state television reported.