Red Cross Commends Iran for Humanitarian Aid to Syrian Refugees
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Head of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Lebanon, Fabrizio Carbone, praised Iran for the humanitarian aid it has delivered to the Syrian refugees in Lebanon so far.
In a meeting with Iran’s Ambassador to Lebanon Ghazanfar Roknabadi, the ICRC official appreciated the Islamic Republic for its humanitarian aid to the Syrian refugees, who have been forced to flee their country as a result of prolonged crisis.
Carbone also expressed concern about the dire condition of Syrian refugees, and emphasized the need for an immediate end to the lingering crisis in the Arab country.
The Iranian envoy, for his part, underlined the importance of keeping stability and security in Lebanon, and expressed Tehran’s preparedness to further cooperate with the Red Cross.
Also in late September, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said Tehran was ready to provide humanitarian assistance to the Syrian nation and help international organizations facilitate relief operations in the crisis-hit country.
The Islamic Republic of Iran is ready to contribute to relief operations in Syria, Zarif said in a meeting with Peter Maurer, the president of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in New York at the time.
And in late August, Secretary General of Iranian Red Crescent Society Mohammad Abbasi announced that Iran is ready to provide the Syrian nation with whatever humanitarian assistance they need.
He also added that IRSC has devoted efforts to helping Syria’s neighboring countries set up refugee camps for the Syrian people who have fled the country since the crisis began in March 2011.
The conflict in Syria which has raged on for two years and a half has claimed more than 115,000 lives and made more than six million people either internally displaced or refugees.
According to the UN's refugee agency, in addition to 2 million people who have left the country, a further 4.25 million have been displaced within Syria. And Lebanon, the smallest of Syria's neighbors and one of the least able to cope, has received the highest number of refugees, at 700,000.
The UN says it is the worst refugee crisis for 20 years, with numbers not seen since the 1994 genocide in Rwanda.
