Iran hails expulsion of Israeli ambassador from Turkey

The Iranian Foreign Ministry Saturday hailed the expulsion of Israeli ambassador from Ankara, the semi-official ISNA news agency reported.

In a statement, the ministry called for prevention of what it called Israel's influence on changing the results of the international independent investigation of the May 2010 Israeli raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla, said ISNA.

A United Nations panel released an investigation report Thursday on the flotilla incident which led to the killing of nine Turkish nationals by Israel.

The report accused Israel of using "excessive force" in dealing with the flotilla which was bound to Gaza to breach Israel's blockade on the Gaza Strip.

On the other hand, the report endorsed the legality of Israel's blockade on the ground that the Israel state should have prevented the Hamas movement from obtaining weapons.

The report was denounced by the Palestinian Authority as a political move which is not based on international law.

Turkey demanded Israel apologize for the incident, but Israel rejected the request.