Iran Offers Relief Aid to Pakistan after Floods
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The president of Iran said Tehran is ready to provide whatever rescue and relief aid necessary to the people of Pakistan, millions of whom have been affected by severe floods.
In a telephone conversation with Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday, Raisi said he has tasked relevant bodies in Iran with supplying all the necessary assistance to the flood-hit people of the neighboring country as soon as possible.
He also offered his condolences and expressed his sympathy with the Pakistani prime minister over the tragedy.
Elsewhere in his remarks, the Iranian president stressed the importance of improving cordial relations between Tehran and Islamabad, Press TV reported.
The Pakistani prime minister, for his part, briefed Raisi on the damage caused by the deadly floods and hailed the Iranian government and people for their sympathy.
Sharif said Iran has always supported Pakistan in hard times.
Two days after calling the floods “a catastrophe of epic scale,” Climate Change Minister Sherry Rehman said on Friday that the Islamabad government had declared an emergency while appealing for international assistance.
According to the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), more than 900 people have been killed this year –including 34 in the last 24 hours– as a result of devastating rains that began in June.
Officials say this year’s floods have inundated more than a fifth of Pakistan, similar to the 2010 floods that killed more than 2,000 people in the country.
