Activists back to Iran from Gaza

Iranian activists accompanying Asia's first humanitarian aid convoy to Gaza have returned home after successfully completing their mission.   The Iranian activists arrived in the Iranian capital, Tehran, after delivering medical supplies and electricity generators donated to the people of Gaza. “We thank the Iranian people for their support for this caravan,” one of the Iranian activists told Press TV. “We have tried very hard for the last two months for this convoy to be a success,” he added. “And I would like to say (sic) them that their work has bear (sic) fruit,” the activist went on to say. He underlined that the convoy has been “very successful” and that “we were able to break” the Israeli blockade on the Gaza Strip. Egypt initially refused to allow the Iranian activists and their relief supplies to enter Gaza through the Rafah border crossing. The aid was part of an estimated one million dollars worth of goods sent from over 17 Asian nations. “We hope that we can … continue our struggle against the siege, and it's not our first attempt,” another Iranian activist told Press TV. “It was the first Asian caravan, and surely there would be second, third, fourth and fifth Asian caravans in order to break the siege of Gaza completely,” he added. The convoy began its journey from the Indian capital, New Delhi, in early December and traveled through Pakistan, Iran, Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and Egypt, entering Gaza through the Rafah crossing. Some 40 percent of the 1.5 million impoverished people of Gaza are jobless as Israel imposed the siege on the sliver since June 2007. Earlier this week, the United Nations expressed concern that more than 80 percent of people of Gaza depend on relief supplies for their survival.