GENEVA, April 7 (Reuters) – U.S. sanctions have prevented theĀ Iranian Red Crescent from obtaining any foreign financial aid to assist victims of flooding that has killed at least 70 people and inundated some 1,900 communities, the group said on Sunday.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said last week that Washington was ready to help via the Red Cross and Red Crescent, but accusedĀ Iranās clerical establishment of āmismanagement in urban planning and in emergency preparednessā.
āNo foreign cash help has been given to theĀ Iranian Red Crescent society. With attention to the inhuman American sanctions, there is no way to send this cash assistance,ā the Red Crescent said in a statement.
It said the group had received some non-financial help from abroad which had been distributed to flood victims.
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Source: Kayhan London.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said last week that U.S. sanctions – reimposed after Washington quit a 2015 nuclear deal betweenĀ IranĀ and six world powers – were impeding aid efforts to flood-stricken towns and villages.
āBlocked equipment includes relief choppers: This isnāt just economic warfare; itās economic TERRORISM,ā he said on Twitter.
The flood disaster, arising from exceptionally heavy rainfall since March 19, has left aid agencies struggling to cope and seen 86,000 people moved to emergency shelters.
The government has told citizens, and especially flood-affected farmers, that all losses will be compensated.
Iranās state budget is already stretched under U.S. sanctions on energy and banking sectors that have halved its oil exports and restricted access to some revenues abroad.
IranĀ acted on Saturday to evacuate more towns and villages threatened by floods after continued rain in the southwest.
(Reporting by Babak Dehghanpisheh Editing by Mark Heinrich)