Iran, Venezuela seek action on Israel

Amid global outrage over the recent Israeli attack on a Gaza-bound aid convoy, the Iranian president and his Venezuelan counterpart call for an end to Israeli atrocities against Gazans.

In a Thursday telephone conversation, Presidents Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Hugo Chavez stressed the need for making concerted efforts and adopting serious measures against Tel Aviv in order to break the siege of Gaza, IRNA reported.

“All free people and governments of the world need to condemn the Israeli crimes and put an end to them,” President Ahmadinejad said, making a reference to the deadly Israeli onslaught on the Gaza-bound aid fleet, the Freedom Flotilla.

“It is necessary for international communities to condemn the catastrophic incident and to send more aid convoys in order to break the siege and save the people of Gaza from the inhumane pressures,” the Iranian president added.

“Today, the Zionist regime is approaching its end as a terrorist regime,” he noted.

For his part, President Chavez called for increased pressure on Israel and endorsed the idea of dispatching more aid flotillas for the impoverished people of Gaza.

He said Venezuela and other Latin American countries shared the same views about intensification of political pressure on Israel.

The Iran-Venezuela stance on Israel comes after Israeli forces launched an early morning attack on a group of aid ships en route to Gaza on Monday in which 20 activists were killed and scores injured.