TEHRAN: Four Iranian lawmakers plan to make a trip to the blockaded Gaza Strip next week by traveling through Egypt, state news agency IRNA reported on Wednesday.
"This trip will be made next Tuesday," one of the four lawmakers, Mahmoud Ahmadi Bighash, who is also a member of Iranian parliament’s foreign policy commission, was quoted as saying by IRNA.
The other three lawmakers are Evaz Heydarpour, Parviz Sarouri and Shobayb Jouyjari, the report said.
Mehr news agency quoted Sarouri as saying that the four would enter Gaza through the Rafah crossing.
The reports did not elaborate on the planned trip nor its intention.
In June, the Iranian Red Crescent said it was planning to send an aid ship to Gaza but later cancelled the voyage, blaming restrictions imposed by Israel and Egypt.
The decision to send the aid ship came after a May 31 Israeli commando raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla left nine Turkish pro-Palestinian activists dead and sparked international outrage.
The Islamic republic does not recognize Israel, and tensions have worsened between the two countries under President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad who has repeatedly said the Jewish state is doomed to disappear.
