TEHRAN (Dispatches) – Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei on Monday called on the authorities to provide more aid for the survivors of a devastating earthquake that hit the country’s west more than a week ago.
The Leader spoke during a visit to Kermanshah Province, which was hit hard by the 7.3-magnitude quake that killed at least 430 people and left thousands injured or homeless amid bitterly cold temperatures on November 12.
"I feel the same pain that each of you have in your hearts. I would have liked to be among you at a better time," Ayatollah Khamenei said.
"I was also among you during the imposed war. You showed your mettle and endurance in the imposed war. Show it also today. The brave and heroic people stand and defeat the mishap," the Leader added.
Ayatollah Khamenei was referring to the Iraqi war under the former dictator Saddam Hussein whose troops captured Sarpol-e Zahab in 1980 before the city fought back and drove out the invaders.  
"See how Iran considers itself indebted to Kermanshah. Everyone helped as much as their means would allow them,” the Leader said.
Survivors of the quake that struck near the Iran-Iraq border depend on handouts for essential supplies such as food, heating appliances, and tents.
Addressing residents of the town of Sarpol-e Zahab, Ayatollah Khamenei praised the rescue and relief operations but also expressed dissatisfaction over how the aid has been delivered to the people affected by the quake.
"I believe that officials should double their efforts," said Ayatollah Khamenei, who also paid a visit to the provincial capital, Kermanshah.
The earthquake has led to an outpouring of solidarity from Iranians across the country and millions more in the diaspora, prompting state officials and personalities to visit the affected areas.
Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani traveled to Kermanshah on Sunday to inspect recovery operations after President Hassan Rouhani did the same earlier in the week.
Ali Daei, a legend in football and former national team coach, has been at the center of a campaign to gather people's donations.
The Iranian Army and the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) are working hand in hand in the province. Army chief General Abdolrahim Mousavi and IRGC chief Major General Muhammad Ali Jafari are visiting the affected areas for a second time to oversee relief and rescue operations.
The Leader said authorities should double their efforts to help those affected, "in the same way that the Army rushed to the assistance of those caught under the debris in the cities and the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps did so in the villages in the early hours after the earthquake."
"Their presence was effective. Had they not come, we would have suffered much more bereavement and sadness, and our casualties would have gone much higher,” Ayatollah Khamenei said.
The IRGC has stationed portable field hospitals which include tents, operation rooms, outpatient and gynecology wards, pharmacies, radiology labs, and dental facilities. On Sunday, an IRGC official said portable bathrooms were also being transported to the affected areas.  
Aftershocks continue to rattle the affected areas, with 647 tremors recorded until Sunday noon following the initial earthquake, as medics and rescue teams race to treat the injured and help retrieve bodies from under toppled buildings.
The Leader’s visit came as a number of Iranian lawmakers criticized the insufficient distribution of aid in the quake-stricken areas.
"The situation in earthquake-hit areas needs attention; otherwise, we are going to face a disaster worse that the earthquake itself,” said parliamentary deputy Farhad Tajari, according to the ISNA news agency.
"Unfortunately, because of the poor distribution of relief packages, some areas have enough food but not enough clothes and other districts have the opposite,” Tajari said, adding that affected areas also face power outages and a lack of sanitary facilities.
Another lawmaker, Javad Husseini Kia, said that the financial aid allocated by the government to the survivors was not enough to buy essential goods.
"It is only offering 50 million rials ($1,250) in gratuitous financial aid for villagers and 60 million rials ($1,500) for city dwellers,” Husseini Kia said. "With such minimal grants, people cannot get essential goods, let alone repair their damaged houses.”
Meanwhile, the official IRNA news agency quoted government spokesman Muhammad Baqer Nobakht as saying that affected households in Kermanshah Province will receive at least $6,200 in loans and $1,250 in grants.
The Tasnim news agency reported that since the earthquake hit, garbage has built up in the streets and parks and around tents where survivors have taken shelter in Kermanshah Province.
Ebrahim Shakiba, at the Medical Science University of Kermanshah, warned that the danger of a cholera outbreak is looming in the quake-hit areas where trash is not being properly collected.