Snow Cripples 10 Provinces

Blizzards and snow drifts besieged cities in 10 Iranian provinces, while cutting off access to many villages in other areas over the past week. Heavy snowfall in provinces of Ardebil, East Azarbaijan, West Azarbaijan, Zanjan, Khorasan Razavi, Kordestan, Kermanshah, Golestan, Gilan, Mazandaran, and Tehran on Friday shut down major roads and hindered inter-city traffic. Incessant snowfall in the northern city of Rasht, the capital of Gilan Province on Friday and Saturday, blocked the highway linking it to the city of Qazvin. The situation has led the authorities to ban heavy trucks plying the roads leading from Gilan Province. People have also been stopped from leaving the province for Tehran. Emergency teams have reached out to over 32,000 people, providing emergency shelter to around 7,500 trapped on roads, IRNA reported. Meteorologists forecast that the skies will clear over Gilan by Saturday night but say the province is expected to be gripped by blizzards for the next two days.