IRAN: The President of Iran, Mr Mohammad Khatami, prepared to head for quake-stricken northern part of the country yesterday amid continuing controversy over the number of casualties from Saturday's deadly tremor and the lack of aid.
Mr Khatami's office said the president would go to the area today "to see the extent of the damage for himself and console the victims". The Iranian Foreign Minister, Mr Kamal Kharazi, yesterday described the weekend earthquake that killed almost 250 people as a "national tragedy". The Interior Minister, Mr Abdolvahed Mussavi-Lara, had stones thrown at his convoy in Avaj, one of the worst-hit villages in Qazvin province, when he visited there on Sunday. The ministry said no vehicle was hit as a crowd called on the authorities to speed up the provision of aid.
A UN assessment team which travelled to the devastated areas on Sunday said "hundreds" of people were killed and up to 4,000 injured in the quake. The figures were higher than the some 250 dead and 1,000 injured given by the government on Sunday, down sharply from initial death tolls of more than 500. A UN official, Mr Haoliang Xu, said that the UN co-ordinator in Tehran, Mr Francesco Bastagli, was expected to revise the estimate of dead and injured to around 220 and 2,000 respectively.
The US has sent messages of sympathy and offers of aid. Foreign Ministry spokesman, Mr Hamid-Reza Asefi, yesterday implicitly welcomed the US offer, state radio reported.
"Islamic Iran has not asked for any help from any country, but normally in situations like this, countries offer help as sign of sympathy and we will welcome it," Mr Asefi told reporters. The US said yesterday it had not received a direct response from Iran regarding the offer of aid. - (AFP)