DAMASCUS (Dispatches) -- Syria’s prime minister has expressed his gratitude to Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei as well as the Iranian government and nation for their unflinching support for the victims of a deadly earthquake in the Arab country.
Hussein Arnous met head of the Iranian Red Crescent Society (IRCS) Pirhussein Kolivand here Friday to thank Iran’s continuous relief services to victims of the earthquake.
“This is a difficult situation and we are very happy that the Iranian Red Crescent is with us,” the Syrian prime minister said.
“We thank the leadership, government, and people of the Islamic Republic of Iran for helping us in this difficult times and we are grateful to you. We hope that the international community will also come to its senses and remove sanctions against Iran and Syria because sanctions are also earthquakes that affect a country,” he added.
Arnous said the Iranian people and government have always stood by Syria, describing relationship between the two countries as brotherly.
Kolivand, for his part, expressed the IRCS’s readiness to share its experiences in providing relief and aid during various accidents and disasters with its Syrian counterpart.
“We are ready to sign a memorandum of understanding and share our experiences in the field of natural disasters, and this cooperation can lead to favorable results for both countries,” he said.
“The Red Crescent Society of the Islamic Republic of Iran stands with the Syrian nation and is trying
to provide appropriate assistance to the victims of the Syrian earthquake,” he added.
The official touched on new aid packages arriving in Syria by Saturday.
“An aid shipment today and another consignment tomorrow will arrive in Syria, which include medicine, blankets, hygiene items, and food. Efforts are also being made to provide necessary assistance in other areas,” he said.
Earlier, in his meeting with his Syrian counterpart Khaled Hboubati, the official said Iran would continue to send more humanitarian aid to quake-hit areas in Syria and try to facilitate dispatch of international relief to the country.
Iran’s embassy in Damascus announced on Friday that the ninth batch of the Islamic Republic’s humanitarian aid had arrived in the quake-hit Syrian city of Aleppo on Thursday night.
Iran pledged rescue and relief assistance to both Turkey and Syria immediately after the two countries were hit by massive earthquakes. It also joined an international call to pressure the U.S. to lift its sanctions on Syria and remove obstacles to delivery of aid into the quake-hit areas.
Iran has said it is ready to immediately dispatch humanitarian aid and rescue teams to Syria’s northwestern province of Idlib which is controlled by foreign-backed terrorists to help millions of people who are in urgent need of food, shelter, and warm clothes.