Iranian Aid Ship, Parliamentarians to Make Gaza Trip

Ali Sheikholeslami and Ladane Nasseri (Bloomberg)

June 15, 2010

Iran will send a ship carrying aid to the Gaza Strip to try to breach Israel’s blockade, while four Iranian lawmakers plan to visit the Palestinian coastal enclave if Egypt gives them visas.

Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani approved the trip for the four members of the parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, the state-run Fars news agency cited one of the four, Mahmoud Ahmadi-Bighash, as saying today. They are among 200 Iranian lawmakers who said they wanted to visit Gaza, Fars reported. The crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip, at Rafah, is controlled by Egyptian authorities and Hamas.

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Setting the Record Straight

Determined to Reach a Common Objective

“We knew at the outset that the task would be difficult. We acknowledged that publicly and privately. We knew this would be a road with many bumps— and there have been many bumps—and that continues to this day. But we are not deterred. We are, to the contrary, determined more than ever to proceed to realize the common objective, which we all share, of a Middle East that is at peace with security and prosperity for the people of Israel, for Palestinians, and for all the people in the region. We will continue our efforts in that regard, undeterred and undaunted by the difficulties, the complexities or the bumps in the road.”—George Mitchell, special envoy for Middle East peace, remarks with Prime Minister Netanyahu, September 29, 2010

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