Monday, April 8 2019 17:04

ArmInfo. Due to efforts of the Emergency Ministries of Armenia and Russia,  a convoy with humanitarian aid left for Iran on April 8.

According to the press service of the Foreign Ministry of Armenia,  assistance will be provided to the population of Iran affected by  floods.

As ArmInfo previously reported, humanitarian aid will be transferred  by the forces and facilities of the Russian-Armenian Center for  Humanitarian Response, located in Yerevan (Armenia) to the Red  Crescent Society of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The cargo consists  of tents, blankets and folding beds for a total of more than 4,000  items of material resources procured at the expense of the funds of  the Russian Federation for the Center's humanitarian reserve.

Precipitation, which began in most of Iran's provinces more than two  weeks ago, led to floods in the provinces of Golestan and Mazandaran  in northern Iran, where 17 cities and 635 villages faced a natural  disaster. More than 25,000 houses, highways and bridges were damaged,  and power supply was disrupted.  As a result of these floods, about  70 people died. Many areas are still suffering from the effects of  flooding, and according to forecasts, new rains are expected in the  country. Atmospheric conditions make it difficult and slow down the  process of providing assistance. In some areas, the population has  been evacuated due to the risks of new flooding. In addition to  Armenia and Russia, Kuwait, Germany, and France sent humanitarian aid  to Iran.

Today, the head of the Iranian Red Crescent Society, Ali Asghar  Peyvandi, announced that cash assistance collected for the residents  of Kermanshah exceeded 65 billion tomans and has already been  provided to flood victims.

Earlier, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif criticized the  introduction of US sanctions that prevent sending monetary aid to  Iran and said: "US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and other US  officials who are trying to harass every Iranian by using economic  terroris and hindering attempts of Iranians living abroad to make  donations to the accounts of the Iranian Red Crescent Society, should  have paid attention to the disasters of Americans, who for several  months suffer from natural cataclysms, rather than try to reap the  strange benefits of the suffering of people affected by the floods. "