US bans barring foreign financial aid to flood-hit Iran: IRCS

As Reported by Qods News Agency (Qodsna) "No foreign cash donation has been made to the Iranian Red Crescent Society yet and basically there are no financial channels available to do this," the IRCS said in a statement on Sunday.

"Some institutions and countries have expressed their readiness to donate and also declared certain sums of money; but as a result of the inhuman US sanctions, there is no way to send this cash assistance" to Iran, the statement added.

At least 70 people have been killed since March 19 in floods and extreme weather conditions in various Iranian provinces, from north to south, following the heaviest downpours in the country in at least a decade.

Estimates by government agencies suggest that the floods have destroyed over 25,000 homes around the country.

Lorestan Province is said to have suffered the second highest amount of casualties after the Fars Province, based on official reports.

The IRCS emphasized in another part of its statement that despite US officials' claims, Washington's sanctions have caused difficulties in the way of helping people affected by flooding and influenced logistical capacities, particularly air relief.

The IRCS has not been able to buy new aid helicopters due to the unilateral sanctions imposed by the US and is also facing difficulties for buying spare parts to maintain its existing aid helicopter fleet, the statement added.

Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Thursday blasted US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo over his "unprofessional" and "demagogic" comments about Tehran's response to the unprecedented flash floods that have hit two dozen Iranian provinces, reminding the US of its own failure in dealing with the aftermath of similar natural disasters over the past years.

 

My response to the unprofessional, interventionist and demagogic comments of @SecPompeo on the devastating floods—and the humanitarian rescue and aid operations—in Iran. pic.twitter.com/OV3vHsKyae

— Javad Zarif (@JZarif) April 4, 2019

"It seems that the U.S. Secretary of State is unaware of the mismanagement of natural disasters in the US over the past two years, and hence opines—in an unprofessional, interventionist and demagogic manner—on Iran’s management of the horrific and unprecedented floods which simultaneously afflicted 24 provinces," said Zarif in a statement which was also posted on his official Twitter page.

Pompeo on Tuesday exploited the national emergency in Iran to once again attack the Islamic Republic, claiming that Tehran's response to the floods showed the level of what he called "mismanagement in urban planning and in emergency preparedness."

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani also said on Wednesday that Washington's harming of humanitarian work in flood-hit areas constitutes “an unprecedented crime.”

“The US move to block international humanitarian aid to those affected by flood is an unprecedented crime,” Rouhani said in a meeting with a number of ministers, heads of executive departments, officials and lawmakers.