TEHRAN: The departure of two Iranian aid ships for Gaza has been delayed due to lack of coordination and a change of cargo, a Red Crescent official said on Monday without specifying when the flotilla would leave.
ISNA news agency quoted Mohammad Javad Jafarian, head of the youth wing of Iranian Red Crescent, as saying that the sailing had been delayed and "no definite" date had been set for the departure of the ships to Gaza.
The Iranian Red Crescent had planned to send two aid ships earlier this month and last week even said that the boats were ready and awaiting the approval of the foreign ministry.
The delay has occurred as "the cargo had to be changed in accordance with the World Red Cross specifications and there has been some international lack of coordination," Jafarian said without elaborating.
The Iranian Red Crescent has previously said it would send a total of three aid ships to Gaza, two of them carrying medicines and foodstuffs and Iranian relief workers. The fate of the third one is still unknown.
It had also said that a plane carrying 30 tons of medical equipment would also be sent to Egypt for onward delivery to Gaza. The fate of the aid plane was also unknown on Monday.
"The Iranian ships will carry humanitarian aid and will have no military weapons on board… so any aggression against it will be a violation of marine law," Jafarian said.
Iran’s decision to send the aid came after a recent Israeli commando raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla which left nine Turkish pro-Palestinian activists dead sparked outrage across the political spectrum in Tehran.
The Iranian Red Crescent had sent an aid ship to Gaza in December 2008 but it was prevented from reaching the territory by the Israeli navy.
The animosity between Iran and its regional arch foe Israel has worsened under the presidency of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, with top Iranian commanders repeatedly boasting Tehran has missiles capable of reaching Israeli targets.
Israel, which has the Middle East’s sole if undeclared nuclear arsenal, has also refused to rule out a resort to military action against Iran to prevent it acquiring a nuclear weapons capability.
Iran denies any such ambition.
