PM Imran offers Iran full humanitarian assistance for flood relief

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Sunday offered Iran to provide full humanitarian assistance required to deal with unprecedented flooding.

In a tweet on Sunday, he said, “Our prayers go to the people of Iran in this critical time.”

Our prayers go to the people of Iran as they deal with unprecedented flooding. We stand ready to provide any humanitarian assistance required.

— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) April 7, 2019

AFP adds: Iranian emergency services were bracing for widespread flooding on Tuesday with mass evacuations planned as extensive rainfalls in regions neighbouring Khuzestan converge on the oil-rich southwestern province.

“The water moving south from Ilam and Lorestan provinces will enter Khuzestan… many villages there will be submerged,” Ali Asghar Peivandi, the head of Iran’s Red Crescent, had said.

“With the possibility of dams overflowing, we have made preparations to accommodate 100,000 people,” he had told state television.

Khuzestan has an extensive range of dams but officials said water was flowing into them at a fast rate.

In some cases water levels were only 70 centimetres (around 27 inches) lower than the dam crests, they had reported.

“Our dams are more than 95 per cent full,” Khuzestan governor Gholamreza Shariati had told state TV.

Water was released from dams as an emergency measure to prevent them from breaking, leading to fears the outflow may cause havoc in cities, towns and villages downstream.