The issue of global aid to flood victims; US preparedness, Iran's denial

The United States has announced its readiness to help flood victims in Iran. However, Iranian officials accuse the United States of preventing aid from reaching Iran. Hassan Rouhani said that preventing aid from reaching Iran is an “unprecedented crime.”

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, without naming the United States, said that preventing international aid from reaching flood victims in Iran was "an unprecedented crime."

According to the Presidential Information Center, Hassan Rouhani today, Wednesday, April 3, referring to the Iranian Red Crescent's relief efforts to flood victims in the country, said, among other things: "The fact that foreign aid is being prevented from entering Iran and that our Red Crescent cannot receive aid sent from other countries in these difficult circumstances is an unprecedented crime."

According to the state-run IRNA news agency, however, in a meeting with a group of ministers, officials, and some members of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, Rouhani called "the US action to prevent the arrival of international aid" for flood victims an "unprecedented crime."

America “Ready to Help”

Hassan Rouhani spoke about "American action" to prevent foreign aid for flood victims, while US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo issued a statement yesterday expressing sympathy for flood victims in Iran and emphasizing his country's readiness to help flood victims through the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement.

At the same time, Pompeo considered the main cause of the severe damage caused by the devastating floods in Iran to be the "mismanagement" of the Islamic Republic's government, saying: "The Iranian regime blames foreign factors, when in fact it is their mismanagement that led to this disaster."

Earlier, the US State Department, while expressing its condolences to the families of flood victims in Iran, announced on Twitter: "We stand ready to help as always, just as we are at the forefront of such situations in other parts of the world."

However, officials in the Islamic Republic, especially officials in the Iranian Foreign Ministry, are speaking of obstacles that the United States has placed in the way of humanitarian aid entering the country. On Tuesday, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif called the United States’ announcement of its readiness to help flood victims in Iran through the International Committee of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Society “fake news” on his Twitter page, and described the “real news” as follows: “According to the statements of the head of the International Committee of the Red Cross, the Iranian Red Crescent Society cannot receive any financial resources due to illegal US sanctions.”

Accusation of "economic terrorism" against the United States

The Islamic Republic's foreign minister also once again accused the United States of "economic terrorism" and called on the country to "accept responsibility" for this. This is despite the fact that American officials emphasize that the country's sanctions do not target medicine, food, or humanitarian aid.

Hamid Baeidinejad, the Islamic Republic's ambassador to the United Kingdom, also reacted to the US Secretary of State's recent statements about the Iranian government's "mismanagement" of the flood, writing: "This shameful statement is being issued in a situation where the US has failed to find a solution to the extensive flooding that has been affecting several major US states for a month."

Hassan Rouhani also repeated a similar theme today, Wednesday, April 4, before the speech of Ali Khamenei, the Leader of the Islamic Republic, in a meeting with a number of government officials and ambassadors of Islamic countries, saying: "The Russians are still not able to compensate for the damage caused by the flood in America a few months ago, but everyone will see that in dear Iran, the people and officials will rebuild the devastation together."

In recent days, a number of international organizations, such as the United Nations and some countries, including Germany, Britain, and Turkey, have announced their readiness to help the flood victims in Iran. According to Iranian media reports, Maria Viotti, the head of the UN Secretary-General’s Office, in a phone call with Ishaq Al-Habib, the head of the Iranian permanent mission to this international organization, conveyed the sympathy of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to the “government and people of Iran” regarding the recent flood. Ms. Viotti also emphasized the readiness of the UN Secretary-General for “any cooperation and assistance” from this organization. According to these media reports, the head of the UN Secretary-General’s Office considered it “obvious” that humanitarian aid is exempt from any sanctions.

Oguchi Daniels, the UN Development Program representative in Iran, also announced yesterday that the UN team was “closely” monitoring the flood situation in Iran and would provide necessary support to the government’s efforts if requested. The UN official wrote on Twitter: “The UN’s mandate is to support the government of Iran and that is exactly what we have been doing since the beginning of this bitter crisis. Some relief items have been provided and we will continue to do so.”

Donations sent

Last Monday, Michael Kloer-Berchtold, the German ambassador to Tehran, announced on his official Twitter account that his country was providing assistance to flood victims in Iran “in the form of 40 boats and safety equipment from the German Red Cross to the Iranian Red Crescent.” At the same time, Al Alam Network reported that this equipment was scheduled to arrive in Iran on April 5 and be delivered to the Iranian Red Crescent.

At the same time, the Islamic Republic's ambassador to the UK, while echoing Zarif's words about the role of US sanctions in preventing aid from reaching flood victims in Iran, wrote on his Twitter account last Monday: "The British Red Cross is fully prepared to immediately send the needed items to Iran upon receiving the list of urgent relief items and flood-fighting equipment from the Iranian Red Crescent."

Robert Macaire, the British ambassador to Tehran, was among the diplomats who previously expressed sympathy for the flood victims in Iran on Twitter, writing: "I am shocked to see the photos and what I am hearing from my Iranian friends about the flooding in Iran."

The Turkish Red Crescent Society has also sent five trucks of humanitarian cargo to Iran, including tents, sheets, blankets, kitchen utensils, and cooking lamps. They entered the country last Sunday through the Bazargan border, and were scheduled to be delivered to the Red Crescent in Golestan Province after favorable weather conditions.

Despite the US's announcement of readiness to help flood victims in Iran and the UN representatives' emphasis on the "obvious" exemption of humanitarian aid from sanctions, officials from the Islamic Republic's Ministry of Foreign Affairs have announced that the Red Crescent's accounts have been "blocked."

Bahram Ghasemi, spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, also said yesterday: "Given that the Red Crescent's accounts are blocked, no foreign citizen or Iranian resident abroad can send aid to the flood-affected people."

Like Zarif, Qasemi also cited US sanctions as an obstacle to providing aid to the flood victims, saying: "Relief organizations such as the Red Cross and Red Crescent have announced in recent days that they cannot send their aid to the Red Crescent of the Islamic Republic, and it seems that the US is trying to prevent the sending of humanitarian aid to the flood-affected people."

Officials from the Islamic Republic's Ministry of Foreign Affairs are speaking about the negative impact of US sanctions on providing aid to flood victims, while Eshaq Jahangiri, Iran's First Vice President, said last Monday: "A country that has so much wealth does not extend its hand for help."

The floods and heavy rainfall in Iran, which, according to Hassan Rouhani, covered 25 provinces of the country at the beginning of the new solar year (2019), caused thousands of billions of tomans in damage, and according to statistics from the Forensic Medicine Organization, at least 62 people lost their lives.

Source: DW