More than 60 people are reported to have died so far in the flooding which has affected at least 25 of Iran’s 31 provinces, since heavy rains began falling more than two weeks ago.
As well as causing misery for hundreds of thousands of people across the country, the disaster has sparked a distasteful round of mutual recrimination between Washington and Tehran.
Senior U.S. officials have blamed mismanagement by the Iranian government for the flooding. In response, the authorities in Tehran have castigated the U.S. for its sanctions on the country, saying they are preventing vital aid from reaching those most in need.
In a press statement issued on April 2, secretary of state Mike Pompeo offered condolences to the victims of the floods, but then quickly looked to apportion blame for what has been happening.
“These floods once again show the level of Iranian regime mismanagement in urban planning and in emergency preparedness,” he said. “The regime blames outside entities when, in fact, it is their mismanagement that has led to this disaster. They even jail environmentalists for attempting to help Iran prepare for these very issues.”
The latter appears to be a reference to the case of eight Iranian environmentalists who have been accused of spying, in proceedings which Human Rights Watch says violate fair trial standards. In February last year another environmentalist, Kavous Seyed Emami, died in custody in suspicious circumstances.
Pompeo added that the U.S. was ready to contribute to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), which could then direct the money through the Iranian Red Crescent for relief.
Pompeo’s criticism of the Iranian regime was reiterated by the U.S. special representative for Iran Brian Hook soon afterwards. In a press briefing he said the Iranian floods were happening “because Iran has prioritized its expansionist foreign policy over things like emergency preparedness and water management… The regime has destroyed its environment, and it has mismanaged its water resources, and it goes through these cycles of drought and flooding.”
The Iranian authorities have reacted angrily to such statements and dismissed the idea of international aid being able to reach the Iranian Red Crescent. Although food, medicine and medical devices are generally excluded from the U.S. sanctions program, the authorities in Tehran say the broad-brush approach taken by the American government to sanctions means that, in reality, much-needed assistance often cannot get through.
Iran’s foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif responded on Twitter by saying that “Iranian Red Crescent can’t receive any funds due to illegal U.S. sanctions. U.S. should own up to its ECONOMIC TERRORISM.”
President Hassan Rouhani said “preventing foreign aid from entering the country in these hard conditions is an unprecedented crime.”
Despite the diplomatic dispute, there are relief efforts underway across Iran and some international aid has been getting into the country, with more promised. For understandable reasons, international relief agencies do not want to get drawn into the diplomatic row between Tehran and the U.S. and have not said what difficulties they are facing in sending assistance into the country.
According to the IFRC, more than 11,000 Red Crescent relief workers have so far reached more than 192,000 people with life-saving assistance. They have distributed food and emergency supplies such as tents, blankets, health kits and heaters. Red Crescent teams have also evacuated nearly 600 people from flooded villages and buildings.
The IFRC says it has deployed CHF500,000 ($500,000) from its disaster fund to bolster local Red Crescent efforts. These funds will be used to provide unconditional cash grants to about 3,000 families that have lost their homes and livelihoods in the floods. The IFRC says it is working with the Iranian Red Crescent to identify what other help it can offer.
“Our focus is on supporting our Iranian Red Crescent colleagues to respond to this crisis and we have been able to provide support,” said Rana Sidani Cassou, a spokesperson for the IFRC. “However, given the scale of this emergency, more help is clearly needed, and we are working now to identify how we can expand our assistance.”
Assistance is also coming from other donors in the region and beyond. Among them, Kuwait’s ruler Emir Sheikh Sabah Al-Sabah has called on his Foreign Ministry and the Kuwaiti Red Crescent Society to organize aid to be sent as soon as possible and the Swiss government is reportedly sending water purifiers.
The local office of UNICEF has also said on Twitter that it is providing assistance in coordination with the Iranian government. It said that it and other UN agencies are assessing what the needs are in terms of health, education, water and sanitation in the affected areas.
