The Irish aid agency, Concern, has praised both the Iranian government and the Iranian Red Crescent for their "fast and impressive" response to last week's earthquake in the city of Bam.
Concern's emergency relief experts - Ms Ros O'Sullivan and Mr John Kilkenny - arrived in Bam, south-eastern Iran yesterday to begin assessment of the situation on-the-ground and see where Concern can best focus its 200,000 budget and team efforts.
So far, around 30,000 corpses have been pulled from the ruined ancient city. Yesterday, rescue workers saved one man, a child and a pregnant woman.
At least six others have been rescued since Tuesday despite spending 72 hours under debris without food or water. The "miracles" have been rare, with the local mud-brick construction leaving few air pockets for survivors.
Mr Frederick Lyons, the UN resident coordinator, said today search and rescue was over and the UN would appeal for funds next week to address primary needs of shelter, food and water.
The Concern team spent yesterday assessing the situation in the city of Bam and meeting with organisations such as the Iranian Red Crescent and the UN agencies who have been working on-the-ground coordinating relief efforts.
From their initial assessment, the Concern team believe that the response made by the Iranian government and the Iranian Red Crescent - which has 20,000 volunteers on the ground - has been fast and impressive.
Concern say that it appears that many of the urgent needs of the people - tents, blankets, water and food - have already been met. Many of these items were bought locally and delivered to the people of Bam in the days immediately following the quake. International agencies have also been flying relief items and these are being stored and distributed centrally by the Iranian Red Crescent. Bread, rice, beans, vegetable oil and sugar have been provided to people to get them through the coming weeks.
It's estimated that up to 100,000 people were left homeless by the earthquake. Many of those survivors - mostly women and children - are now thought to have left for safety reasons and to seek shelter with family and friends. The men of the community are remaining in Bam, close to their collapsed homes to salvage what they can and help with local relief efforts.
Today, the team will be assessing the needs in the urban areas outside Bam. A final assessment of those areas will be completed today.
Commenting on the team's initial report, Mr Tom Arnold, CEO Concern Worldwide, noted: "Over the next two days the team will have completed a robust assessment on the situation and our possible role moving forward. At this point, we're evaluating how we can coordinate our efforts with agencies on the ground as well as looking at the outstanding practical issues such as sanitation.
"Once we've completed the final assessment we will be able to comment more concretely on our plans. We are confident there is much we can do to help this devastated community and would continue to appeal to the generosity of Irish people in helping that effort," said Mr Arnold.
Iran told the US today it does not want a humanitarian mission led by
US Senator Elizabeth Dole to visit the site of the earthquake.
"We have heard back today from the Iranians that given the
current situation in Bam and all that is going on there now, it
would be preferable to hold such a visit in abeyance. Therefore
we are not pursuing it further at the moment," State Department
spokesman Adam Ereli said today.
To make a donation to the Bam Iran Earthquake Appeal call: 1850 410 510 or visit www.concern.ie/help_concern/donate.htm
Additional reporting Reuters