[Al Arabiya Latest] Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards are ready to provide a military escort to cargo ships trying to break Israel's blockade of Gaza, a representative of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Sunday.
| The RG 'Navy' consists of a few patrol boats. The Iranian navy has a few frigates and destroyers. None of them could operate in the eastern Med without substantial logistical support which the Iranians can't project. There are, however, two states between Cyprus and Gaza who I am just betting will 'volunteer' to provide basing and support. The over/under is 48 hours ... |
"Iran's Revolutionary Guards naval forces are fully prepared to escort the peace and freedom convoys to Gaza with all their powers and capabilities," Ali Shirazi, Khamenei's representative inside the Revolutionary Guards, was quoted as saying by the semi-official Mehr news agency.
Any intervention by the Iranian military would be considered highly provocative by Israel which accuses Iran of supplying weapons to Hamas, the Islamist movement which rules Gaza.
Israel and its ally the United States decline to rule out military action against Iran if it looks like acquiring nuclear arms capability, something Israel sees as a threat to its survival.
Tehran says its nuclear program is for energy generation and medical purposes and calls its nuclear-armed adversaries hypocrites for trying to block its technological progress.
The Iranian state news agency IRNA said on Sunday Iran would try to send humanitarian aid to Gaza in ships under an Iranian flag. It said Iran had decided to ditch previous plans to send its aid in ships flying the flag of another state. |