Iran denies sending weapons shipment to Gaza

Iran has denied that the massive weapons shipment seized by the Israeli navy on Wednesday was launched from its ports and heading to the Gaza Strip, Iran’s official news agency IRNA reported.

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab and African Affairs Amir Abdollahian insisted that: “This allegation is not true and in principle the message or movement of a ship carrying weapons from Iran to Gaza is not true.”

He added that: “The allegation is merely based on repetitious and baseless fabrications of the Zionist media.”

Israeli and international media reported on Wednesday that the Israeli navy had seized a ship in the Red Sea that was carrying dozens of advanced Iranian-supplied rockets made in Syria, which were intended for Hamas, the ruling Palestinian party in the Gaza Strip.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guards also denied the allegations, according to IRNA.

Meanwhile, the London based newspaper Al-Quds Al-Arabi reported a source in the Eritrean opposition saying that the shipment was heading to Houthi Shiites in Yemen, who are engaged in an armed struggle against both Al-Qaeda affiliated militants and the Yemini government.

The source denied that the shipment was heading to Gaza and ruled out the possibility of Iran even sending such a shipment at this time, because of the uneasy relations between Hamas and Iran.

He also reiterated that Eretria is not ready to gamble its good relations with Israel for the benefit of Hamas and Iran, pointing out that Israelis had previously existed in the Red Sea islands of his country for a long time.