ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – International aid is arriving in Iran to help hundreds of thousands affected by flooding across the country.
France’s Foreign Ministry announced on Friday it was sending “twelve tons of humanitarian cargo, including 114 motorized pumps” to Iran. The first aid shipment will take place in the coming days.
German Red Cross boats have already arrived in the country. The aid package includes 40 rescue boats and specialized rescue equipment like helmets and vests. The majority of the German aid, 80 percent, will be sent to Khuzestan province in the southwest where “Iranian Red Crescent (IRC) flood rescue teams will use the boats to transfer essential items to the affected households,” the IRC stated.
The German Red Cross said it sent the inflatable boats because of problems getting aid to rural areas.
A first shipment of aid from Kuwait landed in Tehran on Friday. The forty tons of aid includes water pumps, pharmaceuticals, and foodstuffs.
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent (IFRC) Societies has allocated half a million Swiss francs to support flood relief efforts in Iran.
The global aid has arrived despite claims from Tehran that US sanctions were blocking relief efforts.
Seventy people have died in more than two weeks of floods, the head of Iran’s Emergency Medical Services organizations said on Friday. “The floods also injured 791 people, of whom 45 are still hospitalized,” said Pirhossein Koolivand, IRNA reported.
The flooding has caused landslides and swept away bridges. Nearly 12,000 kilometres of roads have been damaged, AFP reported, leaving some villages entirely cut off.
Rain is forecast for Saturday.