Mehmanparast said on Sunday that the attack is an obvious example of sea piracy by the Zionist regime’s military forces and called for those who have abducted the activists aboard to be prosecuted in international courts.
Mehmanparast also referred to the Israeli attack on the Mavi Marmara aid ship in May 2010, saying “If the Zionist regime [of Israel] had faced a crushing response by the international community at the time of that crime, this illegitimate regime would not have been encouraged to continue its crimes.”
Iran’s Foreign Ministry Spokesman urged all international organizations to adopt an immediate and practical measure and end the oppression against the people of Gaza.
The Israeli navy forces attacked and boarded the Finnish-flagged Estelle en route to Gaza strip. The vessel was carrying aid and pro-Palestinian activists who were trying to break Israel’s maritime blockade against the region.
Estelle, which left Naples on 7 October with some 20 people of eight different nationalities aboard, was seized by the Israeli forces and taken to the port of Ashdod on Saturday.
The Israeli regime denies about 1.7 million people in Gaza their basic rights, including the freedom of movement and the right to decent living, work, health and education.
The Estelle was the latest of more than a dozen ships that had tried to break the blockade since 2010.
On May 31, 2010, Israeli forces attacked the Gaza-bound humanitarian Freedom Flotilla in international waters in the Mediterranean Sea, killing nine Turkish nationals aboard Turkey’s Mavi Marmara and injuring about 50 other activists who were part of the six-ship convoy.
Also in November 2011, a Canadian and an Irish yacht were prevented in international waters by Israeli forces from transporting pro-Palestinian activists and medical supplies to Gaza.
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