Iran Bags Plan to Send Aid Ship to Gaza

Iran has canceled plans to send aid ships to Gaza, according to the Iranian state news agency, thus avoiding any confrontation with the Israeli naval blockade on the territory. Israel had recently notified the UN that it would consider the presence of Iranian ships in the region as "a declaration of war." Iran plans to send relief materials and supplies already collected by other routes directly to Gaza. "The Zionist regime has made the blockade a political issue and we do not wish to politicize this kind of humanitarian aid," said an Iranian official, as reported by the AFP.