Iran Rejects U.S. Aid Offer

Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting:

US Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns in a phone call on Friday expressed his government's sympathy to the Iranian government and quake-stricken people of Lorestan for the devastating quakes which hit this western Iranian province between Thursday night and Friday morning.

In his phone conversation with Iranian Ambassador to the United Nations Mohammad-Javad Zarif on Friday, Burns voiced the US' offer of aid to quake victims that would include blankets, water and hygienic items.

Zarif thanked Burns for the offer but said the Iranian government had not yet issued an appeal for international assistance following the Lorestan quakes. READ MORE

He said extensive and immediate relief and rescue operations by the Iranian government, the Islamic Republic Red Crescent Society and Non-Governmental Organizations had started in the quake-stricken areas.

The US has adopted lately a strategy of reaching out more to the Iranian people while pursuing anti-Iranian measures. It uses humanitarian disasters such as these latest quakes to hit the country to convey to the people it has a humanitarian heart in a bid to create a wedge between the people and the government.