Seven Palestinians arrived in Tehran early Tuesday for medical treatment in line with Iran's project to take in up to 100 Palestinians badly injured in the recent violence, the official IRNA news agency reported.
It said commander-in-chief of the Revolutionary Guards, General Rahim Safavi, as well as Mohammed Foruzandeh, the head of Iran's wealthy state Foundation for the Disinherited and a representative of Iran's foreign ministry were present at the welcoming ceremony.
Last week, the Disinherited Foundation announced it had arranged for some 100 severely wounded Palestinians to be treated in hospitals, press reports said.
Iran's state-run insurance company said it would cover the costs for all those accepted under the foundation's program, the official IRNA news agency announced.
The number one Hamas representative in Tehran, Mohammed Abujahad, also announced last week that officials were working on the logistics of getting the wounded to Iran despite the blockade on the Palestinian territories.
He said they would work to resolve the matter with the help of the Red Cross.
The foundation controls the extensive holdings of the former shah, who was deposed in the 1979 revolution that brought the Islamic clergy to power and is under the ultimate control of supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Khamenei, who has final say on all matters of state, has called on Muslim nations worldwide to pave the way for a holy war against Israel.
Clashes between Israel and the Palestinians sparked by an incident involving the disputed al-Aqsa mosque area have killed some 140 people in less than four weeks, the vast majority Palestinians – TEHRAN (AFP)
© 2000 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
