Iran Launches Mission to Send Aid to Quake-Hit Syria, Turkey

Iran is dispatching relief teams and emergency supplies to Syria and Turkey following a huge 7.8 magnitude earthquake that struck the region early Monday and several major aftershocks which magnified the damage.  
The first shipment of humanitarian aid to Syria arrived in the Damascus International Airport on Monday night, the Iranian ambassador to the Arab state, Mahdi Sobhani, was quoted as saying by ISNA. 
“The shipment comprises 45 tons of aid that include blankets, tents, medicine, food items and other essentials for those affected by the tremor,” Sobhani stated. 
The diplomat added that a second batch of rescue equipment would arrive in the Aleppo International Airport on Tuesday and a third would land in Latakia, the worst-hit city in Syria. 
Early Monday morning, a severe 7.8 magnitude earthquake occurred in southern Turkey and northwest Syria, killings more than 5,100 residents and trapping many under debris from flattened buildings. 
Both nations have asked for urgent international relief and in response at least 45 countries have offered help with search and rescue efforts. 
Syrian infrastructure has already been devastated by years of civil war and the major earthquake exacerbated the ongoing humanitarian crisis in the nation.
Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian in a phone conversation with his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu on Monday night offered his condolences and stated that Iran would send search and rescue personnel to the neighboring country. 
“An Iranian Red Crescent Society medical and relief team will arrive in Turkey tonight to help rescue the victims,” the top diplomat said. 
He also expressed concern for Iranian expats living in cities where the earthquake struck and asked Cavusoglu for his assistance. 
Amir-Abdollahian noted that the deployment of the IRCS team was in line with President Ebrahim Raisi’s remarks on Monday, declaring Iran’s readiness to contribute support and provide first aid to Turkey and Syria in the wake of the natural disaster. 
Iranian Ambassador to Turkey Mohammad Farazmand on Tuesday noon announced that Tehran’s first supply of emergency and relief supplies would arrive in Gaziantep, Turkey within hours. 
Farazmand pointed out that relief items listed by Turkey’s Disaster and Emergency Management included equipment to remove debris, power generators, search and rescue teams and dogs as well as life detector devices. 
Thousands of people are still trapped under rubbles and rescue teams from all over the world are racing against time to save the trapped before cold temperatures or aftershocks add to the death toll.