Iran, Hamas seek global anti-Israel bloc

Flotilla fiasco encourages leaders to form pro-Palestinian front.

By JPOST.COM STAFF
Ahmadinejad, Erdogan, Da Silva et al (photo credit: Associated Press)
Ahmadinejad, Erdogan, Da Silva et al
(photo credit: Associated Press)
An international front to break the blockade on the Gaza Strip should be formed, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Tuesday in a phone conversation with Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas, the Teheran Times reported.
“This criminal action revealed the real nature of the Zionists,” Ahmadinejad said, adding that now the approach of countries toward this outrageous action would be a “test for their honesty.”
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According to the Teheran Times report Haniyeh said that Iran is the only nation that has always been on the side of the Palestinian nation. “We should try to revive the Palestinian nation’s violated rights and end the siege of Gaza,” he added.
On Monday, Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki thanked Europe and the international community for the "harsh response" to Israel's "barbaric commando 
operation," saying Iran identified with the "shahids" who were killed in the IDF raid on the Gaza-bound flotilla.
In the days since the Navy's raid on the Gaza-bound flotilla on Monday, condemnations have been streaming in from Arab countries. Messages of carefully-couched rebuke have been coming from Israel's allies, many urging Israel to include an “international element” in any commission of inquiry into the incident, Israel Radio reported Wednesday.