Iran asks for aid from any country except Israel

[JohnLocke]

Iran asks for aid from any country except Israel
JPost.com Staff

Iran on Saturday spurned Israeli offers of assistance for the victims of the catastrophic earthquake in southeastern Iran which has decimated the ancient city of Bam and has killed tens of thousands.
The Iranian Interior Ministry said it wants help from any country in the world - except Israel. "The Islamic Republic of Iran accepts all kinds of humanitarian aid from all countries and international organizations with the exception of the Zionist regime" (Israel), Iranian Interior Ministry spokesman Jahanbakhsh Khanjani was quoted by the official news agency IRNA as saying.
Despite Khanjani's statement, Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom said political emnities should be put aside for natural disasters.
The Israeli Government offered condolences on Saturday saying Israel had "no conflict" with the Iranian people, despite its enmity with the Islamic regime.
(...)
"The government and people of Israel are moved by the human tragedy experienced by the Iranian people and believe that despite all differences a mobilisation of the whole international community is needed to come to the help of families of the victims and wounded," a governmen statement said.
(...)
The 6.7-magnitude earthquake struck about 5:30 a.m., local time, collapsing buildings in the city of Bam in southeastern Iran, severing power lines and shutting down water service. As of Saturday morning, the Iranian government put the death toll at over 20,000.
Israel regards Iran as its greatest external security threat, and Iran has recently threatened Israel with missile attack if the latter attacked Iran's nuclear facilities.

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