World Shia Leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei says the United States, Britain and France must be held accountable for an Israeli attack on a Gaza-bound aid convoy.Imam Khamenei, in his message, condemned the Israeli attack on peace flotilla which was carrying aid for the people in the Gaza Strip on Monday.
Today, the issue of Palestine is neither an Arabic nor an Islamic one, but it is an issue pertaining to the contemporary world.

Imam Khamenei reiterated that supporters of the Zionist regime, particularly the US, Britain and France must be held accountable for the aid convoy attack.

“By such a move, the Tel Aviv regime proved that the Zionism is a new and harsher version of Fascism supported and assisted by the so-called advocates of democracy and human rights particularly Washington,” Imam Khamenei emphasized.

The US, Britain, France and other European states that have politically, economically and militarily assisted the criminal Zionists must be seriously held accountable for the atrocities of the occupying regime, World Shia Leader said.

Imam Khamenei also denounced occupation of the Palestinian territories by a criminal, impudent and insane regime which has imposed an economic blockade on 1.5 million men, women and children in the Gaza Strip depriving them of food and necessary medicines for the past three years.

The Arab governments are faced with a difficult test, he said, urging the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) and the Arab League not to be satisfied with less than lifting the Gaza siege.

Imam Khamenei further stressed that invasion of Palestinian lands in the West Bank should be stopped and war criminals such as Zionist Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak be put on trial.

“The combatant Palestinian nation and the people and popular government of Gaza should know that their enemy is currently weaker and more vulnerable than any other time,” Ayatollah Khamenei said.

The Zionists’ Monday attack on the aid convoy, like the invasion of Lebanon and Gaza in the past years, would bring the Tel Aviv regime closer to its end, World Shia Leader stated.

According to media reports, early Monday morning in international waters, Israeli forces intercepted and took control of the six-ship aid convoy, which was carrying 10,000 tons of aid and hundreds of activists from several countries. At least 20 people were killed in serious violence on one or more of the vessels.

The Islamic Republic of Iran has strongly denounced the fresh act of state piracy and terrorism by the illegal Zionist entity that resulted in the killing of scores of relief personnel Monday morning and hijacking of the 6-ship aid flotilla to Israel ports.

The flotilla is carrying 10,000 tons of relief aid for Gaza’s besieged 1.5 million Palestinian people, and was attacked and hijacked by the Zionists in international waters some 150 km from Gaza.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in his remarks today said the Zionist attack on the Freedom Flotilla was not any flexing of military muscle, as some might misconstrue, but an obvious sign of weakness of the fast disintegrating entity called Israel.

He said Israel was “planted on Palestinian soil with the aim of dominating not just the Middle East but also the entire world.”

Dr. Ahmadinejad calling for international efforts to salvage the Zionist-usurped nation of Palestine, said: “Support for the people of Palestine means support for peace and freedom of every nation.”

Iran’s Foreign Ministry issued a statement on Monday, strongly condemning the Zionist regime’s crime and attack against Palestine Freedom Flotilla terming it a clear example of terrorism on the high seas (international waters).

The foreign ministry statement said Israel’s raid on an international convoy carrying humanitarian aid to the Palestinians in Gaza unveiled the real criminal and warmongering nature of the Zionist regime.

It further reminded that the Zionist regime committed the crime while its attack on the Gaza Strip which incurred the death of nearly 5,000 innocent Palestinian kids, women and men and its use of banned arms and ammunition was still fresh in the minds of the peoples of the world, and while the illegal blockade of the Gaza Strip which is against all international norms and standards is still continuing.

The statement added: “The Zionist regime’s attack on ships and its passengers resembles the actions of sea pirates in previous centuries and according to the International Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts Against the Safety of Maritime Navigation, this move is a clear instance of maritime terrorism.”

Tehran called on the UN Security Council and the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) to hold emergency sessions and take swift action against the Zionist regime for attacking Gaza aid convoy.

Israeli commandos stormed an aid convoy sailing to the Gaza Strip in international waters more than 150km off the coast of Gaza early Monday morning, killing 20 human rights activists and injuring 50 more. The Freedom Flotilla, carried humanitarian aid, and was intended for the besieged and oppressed Palestinian people of the Gaza Strip, who lack even the most basic items for living.