The Iranian Revolutionary Guard said it would send two warships to the Mediterranean to escort ships headed for Gaza in defiance of Israel’s blockade. Israel, as expected, warned against the move, and even Hamas turned down the offer.
“We do not want any military intervention,” Hamas senior figure Jamal Al-Hadri told the London-based A-Sharq al-Awsat.
Israel said it would not allow Iranian warships to approach Israel or Gaza, just as it did 18 months ago by blocking access to Gaza. "The Iranian regime has called for Israel to be wiped off the map," an Israeli official has been quoted as saying, "and has a proven track record of supplying dangerous weapons to Hamas and Hizbullah... We cannot take a chance that there is weaponry on the ships… If we didn’t let an Irish ship reach Gaza, we are certainly not going to let Iranian ships pass.”
Iran's Payoff to Hamas
Iran’s intervention in the Hamas-Fatah-Israel triangle is well-known. Six months ago, PA chairman Abu Mazen (Mahmoud Abbas), head of Fatah, told Egypt’s Al-Ahram newspaper: "Iran wants to hold all the cards… This is why it gave $250 million to Hamas, in order to sabotage the inter-Palestinian [Fatah-Hamas] talks. Every six months Iran gives this sum to Hamas. Hamas lives on Iranian money.”
Iran Still Reporting 20 Dead
Iranian news service SNA reported on Sunday – nearly a week after the flotilla incident – that Israeli commandos “raided a fleet of ships carrying pro-Palestinian activists and basic supplies for Gazans on Monday.” SNA reported that "the assault left at least 20 dead and 80 injured” – contrary to common knowledge that nine were killed.
Iranian university students will be dispatched to Gaza, in opposition to Israel’s actions against the flotilla, the news agency reported. The students gathered at Imam Khomeini International airport in Tehran on Tuesday night, chanting "Down with the U.S.", "Down with Israel", and "Any Muslim's Silence is Disloyalty to Holy Quran". They said the flotilla incident is a “test for Islamic countries to wipe out the Zionist regime.”
Holding Three Americans
Meanwhile, Iran continues to hold, for nearly a year, three American hikers who mistakenly entered Iran while hiking in neighboring Iraq. The three, accused of espionage, were allowed to be visited publicly by their mothers two months ago, but there seems to be no progress on their release. Though Iran's Intelligence Minister Heydar Moslehi suggested two months ago that the U.S. propose a prisoner exchange for the three, this offer has since been rescinded.