Iran to send medical aid to Gaza pending Egypt consent

An Iranian Foreign Affairs Ministry official Saturday said Tehran would prevent Israel from continuing its aggression on Gaza with all means available, saying his country was waiting for permission from Cairo to transport aid into the enclave and receive wounded.

The deputy Iranian Foreign Minister for Arab Affairs Hossein Amir Abdolahian arrived in Lebanon Saturday morning and held talks with Prime Minister Tammam Salam, Speaker Nabih Berri and Foreign Affairs Minister Gebran Bassil on the first day of his two-day official visit to Beirut.

Speaking to reporters after his meeting with Bassil, Abdolahian said Hamas had only used a mere 3 percent of its military capability in the 19-day conflict.

“We are exerting and using all available efforts and capabilities to prevent [Israel] from continuing its massacres and crimes against civilians in Gaza,” Abdolahian said.

“I want to reaffirm the Islamic Republic of Iran's support of the resistance might in Palestine and resistance in the region in general. We will not allow the Zionist entity to continue its barbaric aggression on the Gaza strip or allow it to achieve its ambition.”

“We believe that the Palestinian resistance in Gaza has the sufficient capabilities to continue its heroic confrontation and the resistance has only used 3 percent of its military capabilities since the conflict began three weeks ago,” he said.

Bassil and Abdolahian discussed in length the Lebanese-Iranian ties as well as events in the region, particularly the war in Gaza.

“I expressed our appreciation to the minister's initiative against what the Zionist entity is doing to the Palestinian people at the International Criminal Court,” he said, referring to the ministry’s request to the ICC to open an investigation into Israel’s war crimes in Gaza.

“The savage massacres and crimes committed by the Zionist entity cannot be tolerated and should not be accepted by any Arab or Muslim country,” he said, as he condemned international silence over events in Gaza and assistance to Israel.

"If the Zionist entity continues with its aggression, and the conditions set out by the Palestinian resistance in Gaza are not taken into consideration, then the Palestinian resistance will behave in the way Israel deserves in the coming phase.”

Abdolahian also spoke about Iran’s willingness to send medical aid and food to Gaza, and receive wounded Palestinians pending an Egyptian approval.

“Medical aid and food were prepared and are ready to be shipped to Gaza, and we also announced our readiness to receive hundreds of wounded Palestinians to be treated at Iranian hospitals,” he told reporters after meeting Berri in Ain al-Tineh.

“We are still waiting for permission from the Egyptian government to allow us to send the aid to Gaza and transport wounded into Iran.”

He said he discussed with Berri recent developments in Iraq and ISIS’ takeover of Mosul, which forced hundreds of Christian families to flee persecution.

"We spoke about the recent conspiracy targeting Iraq and the unfortunate developments in Mosul, everyone knows ISIS is a terrorist Takfiri, radical, Israeli group,” he said.

“While we see Israel’s massacres in Gaza ... ISIS, which claimed to be liberating, revolutionary forces, has not yet taken any action or said anything about the Israeli aggression.”

“The world should come together to help Iraq, as people and government, to confront terrorism. We support the political process in Iraq.”