From Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty
Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Assefi said during a 4 September press conference in Tehran that Iran would send aid to the United States for the victims of Hurricane Katrina if it is requested, state television reported. The aid would go through the Red Crescent Society, Assefi said, adding, "many of the people who have suffered have voiced protests against the relief operations and have said that they have not been helped as well as they ought to have been." Assefi on 30 August expressed condolences ....
Some members of the Iranian public sounded sympathetic in 3 September interviews with state television. "This is a humanitarian crisis," one man said. "In my view, we must help these people. This will be a message from the Iranian government to the people of America. And I believe this will be a positive message." A concerned Iranian woman said: "I heard on the radio this morning that the UN had called for international aid. I want to know how I can help. How can we send aid?"
But the ability of Iranian state media to influence opinions was apparent. "It would appear that the white survivors were given shelter, food, and aid immediately," a man told state television. "You didn't even see black people queuing for food." Another man said people have a duty to help each other but the United States "never fulfilled its pledges after the Bam earthquake." "It sent useless goods," he continued. |