Iran backing off that military escort for Gaza aid ships

I guess Iran doesn't want to give Israel any excuses to come after its nuclear facilities.

The first Iranian aid ship to Gaza left on Sunday - without a military escort.
One ship left port on Sunday and another will depart by Friday, loaded with food, construction material and toys, the report said. The boats would be part of international efforts to break Israel's isolation of the Gaza Strip.

...
A senior Iranian official said earlier Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards were ready to provide a military escort to aid ships heading to Gaza if Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei so commands. [ID:nLDE65509B]

But the Guards' deputy head, Hossein Salami, said there were no plans to do so. "Such a thing is not on our agenda," he was quoted as saying by the official IRNA news agency on Monday.

Any such military mobilisation would risk a major confrontation with Israel, which fears Iran's nuclear enrichment programme is aimed at developing atomic bombs.
Heh.
Iran Backs Down from Arming Flotilla

by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu June 14, 2010 http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/138063
Iran has backed off from a threat to place “voluntary” marines on a ship headed to Hamas-controlled Gaza, saying Iranians “do not want to fight [but] are willing to become martyred in this way.”
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said last week that he would provide marines on the ship “to teach Israel a lesson” if attempts were made to stop the flotilla from reaching Gaza.

"Such a thing is not on the guards' agenda," Revolutionary Guards deputy commander Hossein Salami was quoted as saying by Iran’s official news agency Irna. An aide to Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei previously said that Iran was prepared to provide a military escort for the boats.

Israel is set to significantly ease the land embargo on goods and material headed for Gaza, the Quartet's Middle East envoy Tony Blair announced Monday. He added that Israel has said it will maintain the maritime blockade to keep arms and ammunition reaching Hamas terrorists via the Mediterranean Sea.

On May 31, Israeli Navy commandos killed nine Turkish men who brutally assaulted them with metal rods and shot at them as they boarded the Mavi Mamara vessel, which refused to change course from Gaza. After the ship was finally escort to the port of Ashdod, it was discovered that it was not carrying any humanitarian aid.

The Red Crescent said its ships would deliver medicine to Gaza, although Israel has allowed tons of drugs and medical supplies to enter Gaza. Israeli hospitals also have treated dozens of Gaza Arabs who were allowed by the IDF to leave Gaza for treatment.

Islamic Republic Member of Parliament Mahmoud Ahmadi-Biqash claimed that the Egyptian government has agreed to issue visas for 70 Iranian legislators who have registered to travel to Gaza, according to the Tehran Times.

One of two Iranian Red Crescent ships already has set sail for Gaza, and another boat is expected to begin its journey later this week, but without armed guards. Last year, Israel stopped an Iranian ship from reaching Gaza, and the boat change course to El Arish, Egypt.

An official at Iran's Society for the Defense of the Palestinian Nation reportedly said, "Until the end of the Gaza blockade, Iran will continue to ship aid."
Oh joy! Now there's a flotilla of fools coming from Lebanon too!

Yes, Lebanon is also sending its own flotilla of fools to Gaza this week.
Lebanese media reported Sunday that between two and four ships laden with 10 tons of humanitarian aid from Lebanon will head for Gaza at the end of the week. The ships are expected to pick up 30 "peace activists", including students and Lebanese intellectuals. Reports in Lebanon said that the Hizbollah has promised to help finance the leasing of the ships and provide "logistical assistance".
Unless they're stopping in Israel or going way out of their way, I don't know where they could be getting any 'peace activists.'

And are the people on the boat not going to be 'peace activists'?

I'd say that the odds of the Israeli Navy letting this one through are even less than usual. Sponsored by Hezbullah? You've got to be kidding.