Intl. humanitarian aid for flood-stricken areas of Iran

Exceptional rainfalls since March 19 have flooded some 1,900 cities and villages across Iran, claiming over 70 lives and causing hundreds of millions of dollars of damage to Iranian water and agriculture infrastructures.

Floods have affected several provinces in the north and west of the country including, Golestan, Mazandaran, Lorestan, and Khuzestan.

The amount of damages are so great that today a senior Iranian parliament member asked Iranian people to help tackle the problems in flood-hit areas of the country because the government and the parliament are not able to cover all the expenses by themselves. 

Despite the US sanctions and restrictions, several countries and international organizations have provided financial and non-financial contributions to flood-hit people in Iran so far, which are:

Turkey:

320 tents, 500 folding beds, 100 hygiene package, 1625 blankets, 360 kitchenware and 60 ovens

Kuwait:
$3 million, 40 tons foodstuffs, medical equipment; it has also announced that it will send reconstruction and development assistance, as well as mobile medical clinics, ambulances and water suction machines to Iran.

European Union (EU):
 €1.2 million

Switzerland:
Two water purifiers each weighing one ton with a capacity of providing drinking water for 5,000 people

Germany:
A charter plane carrying humanitarian assistance including rescue boats and equipment in flowing waters

International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies:
500,000 Swiss Francs (CHF)

Iraqi al-Nujaba:
The movement has started offices in different cities of Iraq to collect popular contributions for flood-affected people in Iran.

France:
114 motorized pumps, 300 kitchenware and 5000 blankets

Russia and Armenia:
4,000 tents, folding beds, blankets and other essential items

The aids came as the United States has imposed many restrictions on Iran and frozen the financial accounts of the Iranian Red Crescent due to the US economic sanctions against the country, thus preventing other countries from sending humanitarian aid to people in Iran’s flood-stricken areas.

Since the accounts of the Iranian Red Crescent have been blocked due to US sanctions, no foreign citizen or Iranian national living abroad is able to send any relief aid to flood-hit people.

ZZ