Iranian officials slam US administration for blocking aid to the flood-hit Iranian people

While the Iranian administration is taking measures for improving the situation of the provinces recently hit by unprecedented floods, the negative effects of the US sanctions on providing aid to the flood-hit people are also mentioned by the Iranian officials.

کد خبر: ۸۸۹۸۲۹

تاریخ: ۱۸ فروردين ۱۳۹۸ - ۱۳:۱۸

Tabnak – While the Iranian administration is taking measures for improving the situation of the provinces recently hit by unprecedented floods, the negative effects of the US sanctions on providing aid to the flood-hit people are also mentioned by the Iranian officials.

In this vein, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Ghassemi criticized Washington’s approach toward the recent floods in Iran, saying that although “the US administration claims that it wants to serve the Iranian nation and improve the situation [for the Iranian people], the recent events showed that these remarks are just ridiculous and bitter claims.”

He further slammed the US move on closing the bank accounts belonging to the Iranian “Red Crescent”, saying that the move was against international standards, as the Red Crescent is a humanitarian organization. Doing this, according to Ghassemi, Washington prevented the receipt of foreign financial aids for the flood-hit people.

In the same vein, Iran’s Defense Minister Brigadier General Amir Hatami has said the United States’ attempts to block international humanitarian aid from entering flood-hit Iran lays bare America’s malevolence.

Addressing employees at the Defense Ministry in Tehran on Sunday, Brig. Gen. Hatami blasted the administration of US President Donald Trump for seeking to hinder shipments of relief supplies to the Iranian regions devastated by unprecedented floods.

“They (the Americans) once again demonstrated their malevolence and the depth of their enmity toward the great nation of the Islamic Iran,” he said. “They proved that — contrary to their media propaganda — they are not just opposed to the Islamic establishment but [are prepared to] inhibit the delivery of the most basic data-x-items needed to save the lives of flood-stricken people.”

Previously, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani had said US harming of humanitarian work in flood-hit areas constitutes “an unprecedented crime.” According to him, “The US move to block international humanitarian aid to those affected by flood is an unprecedented crime.”

Rouhani called on the Iranian Foreign Ministry and the country’s legal bodies to pursue the issue through legal channels. He said even Iranians living abroad were not able to send their aid to their fellow people due to Washington’s sanctions.

Since March 19, most of Iran -- 24 out of its 31 provinces -- has been affected by flash floods triggered by the heaviest downpours in the country in at least a decade.

Over 60 people have so far been killed in the natural disaster, which has also forced tens of thousands of people, mostly in villages, to evacuate their homes and move to emergency shelters. Hundreds of people have also been airlifted from the affected regions.