Fardin Farmand, the representative of Mihneh in the Iranian parliament, criticized the process of assistance to the victims of the latest earthquake on 10 November, saying that government officials had not learned from previous earthquakes and “they went for inspection, took Selfies, and came back.”
He said that many of the houses were destroyed and wiped out by the earthquake. He asked officials to “help the earthquake victims of Mianeh.”
The MP complained about the process of providing relief to the earthquake-stricken areas, even as two years after the Kermanshah earthquake, the situation of the earthquake victims is still unstable.
My deep condolences to the survivors of the earthquake in Azerbaijan, Zanjan, Gilan and Ardabil, and wishing for quick recovery of those injured. I urge the nation to rush to the aid of the victims of the earthquake. #Iran pic.twitter.com/pM7HxjrLUS
— Maryam Rajavi (@Maryam_Rajavi) November 8, 2019
According to state media reports in Iran, two years after the earthquake in the province of Kermanshah, the people still live in trailers, which was supposed to be a temporary home for earthquake victims. Some of the state-run news agencies also wrote in September about the promises to rebuild Sarpol Zahab earthquake-hit homes, stating that they were not only “three blocks not completed, but the completion of renovation and refurbishment of other blocks has not been completed.”
Also, flood victims of the earlier floods still live in tents and trailers. The official IRNA news agency reported in September this year about the latest situation of the flood-stricken people in Golestan province that a few families of the town of Aqqala and the people of their villages are still “living in tents” on the verge of the cold season.
This is while, several days after the floods in various provinces of Iran, the authorities had promised the people to restore the destroyed areas quickly.
Even in the early days of the flood, Hossein Salami, the commander of the Revolutionary Guards, had promised that this force would have “a two-month crisis management plan to return to pre-flood conditions” and a “long-term plan” for what he said was to change the situation “to a better situation than before”. However, this promise has not been fulfilled to this day.
Iran’s government officials have not addressed the situation of the earthquake and flood victims, while they have repeatedly spoken about reconstructing Syria.
Amir Amini, Iran’s Deputy Minister of Roads and Urban Development, said on 25 February 2019 that by agreement between the Iranian and Syrian governments it is determined that 30,000 residential units in Syria will be reconstructed by Iran.
Earlier during a visit by Iran’s first vice president, Eshagh Jahangiri, Iran also signed eleven memorandums of understanding with Syrian officials on economic, scientific, cultural, infrastructure, services, and investment and housing issues.
Many children in the quake-hit city of Sarab, northwest Iran, are suffering from cold and frostbite, the town’s representative in Parliament, Youssef Davoudi, has disclosed.
“The bodies of these children are totally frostbitten,” Davoudi told Eastern Azarbaijan province’s session of crisis management on Saturday, November 9.
Because of the lack of electric or other safe heaters for the tents, two had died of poisonous carbon monoxide gas produced by burning coal or wood. Safe heating and hot food are urgently needed in and around Sarab.
