
<p>Ali Shirazi, the Revolutionary Guard’s spokesman for Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said it was “Iran’s duty to defend the innocent people of Gaza.”</p>
<p>A Red Crescent ship to Gaza was stopped by the Israeli Navy a year and a half ago, but the charged anti-Israeli atmosphere following the latest <a href="http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/news.aspx/137808" target="_blank"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span style="color: #0066cc;">flotilla clash</span></span></a> has encouraged Arab and left-wing colleagues to try to break Israel’s blockade over free passage to the Gaza coast.</p>
<p>An Iranian maritime convoy to Israel could provoke a military clash on the high seas, but it also would highlight Israel’s claim that lifting the blockade would allow Iran to directly send advanced arms, ammunition and terrorists for the <em>de facto</em> Hamas government in Gaza.</p>
<p>The Iranian Red Crescent ships were prepared with cooperation from the Turkish government, according to the <em>London Express</em>.  Ahmadinejad reportedly told Turkish leaders in Istanbul last week that the vessels would be prepared for a direct clash with the Israeli Defense Forces.</p>
<p>Turkey was one of two countries that voted against new sanctions imposed on Iran last week by the United Nations Security Council. Once considered a friend of Israel and distant from Iran, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has totally reversed government policy over the past two years and has joined the Syrian-Iranian-Hizbullah axis while stating that it still wants goods relations with Israel. (IsraelNationalNews.com)</p>
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