Ghazanfar Rokn-Abadi, the head of the Foreign Ministry's Middle East department, said that an Iranian vessel carrying 2,000 tons of humanitarian aid meant for Gaza was not allowed into port.
"Israeli military vessels early Wednesday morning blocked the Iranian humanitarian aid ship's path just off the coast of Gaza," the diplomat said. "The Zionist military regime warned the ship that it was not allowed to approach the coast."
Rokn-Abadi said the ship left the Iranian port of Bender-Abbas 15 days ago, carrying a cargo of medical supplies, food and clothing.
The head of Iran's Red Crescent Organization, Massoud Khatami, told the Iranian Fars news agency that the "ship is now 45 miles [72 kilometers] away from Gaza and an hour ago, again, we received a warning from Israeli warships to leave the region."
"If the situation continues, then we will change route from Gaza to the [Egyptian] port of el-Arish," he added.
