Egypt delay on Iran Gaza aid delivery unjustifiable: Diplomat

A senior Iranian diplomat has criticized Cairo’s “unjustifiable” foot-dragging in giving permission to Iran’s aid flights bound for the Gaza Strip via Egypt.

“Although a long time has passed since Iran’s request, no flight permit has been issued yet for delivering this [food and medical] aid to Gaza via Egypt,” Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab and African Affairs Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said on Wednesday.

“The injured Palestinian children are waiting to be transferred to Iran for urgent treatment and unfortunately a number of them have been martyred during this period due to the severity of their injuries,” he said, adding, “We expect Egypt to immediately fulfill its obligation in this regard.”

According to the latest reports, Iran’s humanitarian aid supplies to the Gaza Strip are currently awaiting permission to be dispatched to the war-stricken enclave through the Rafah border crossing closed by Egypt.

Iran says Egyptian officials refuse to respond positively to a request by Iranian airlines to send a planeload of humanitarian aid to the airports in Cairo or Ismailia.

On August 5, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said he had held two phone conversations with his Egyptian counterpart, Sameh Shoukry, on Israel’s brutal military aggression against Gaza and the necessity to send relief aid to people in the impoverished strip.