The petrochemical facilities operating in western provinces of Iran are running safely despite a strong earthquake that rattled the region killing at least 390 Iranians in western provinces of Iran.
“Fortunately, all the petrochemical facilities in the region are operating and have no serious problem for the time being,” he added.
A powerful 7.3-magnitude earthquake has hit the border region between Iran and Iraq, killing more than 350 people, almost all of them in Iran, PressTV reported.
The epicenter of the quake, which occurred at around 09:18 pm local time on Sunday (0010 GMT on Monday), was 32 kilometers south of the Iraqi city of Halabja, in Iraqi Kurdistan, and just across the border from Iran, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS)
But the highest casualties occurred in the town of Sarpol-e Zahab, in Iran’s Kermanshah Province.
According to official tallies, 341 Iranians were confirmed dead as of Monday afternoon. Over 5,340 others were also injured.
“IRGC [Islamic Revolution Guards Corps], the Army and Basij [volunteer forces] must organize themselves and act quickly by helping transfer the injured and remove the rubble. All public organizations, military and nonmilitary, should use all their capabilities to help the survivors,” he added.
7.3-magnitude earthquake shook the western province of Kermanshah and the regions bordering Iraq on Sunday night.
Update (Monday 16:48 GMT): According to the spokesman for Iran’s National Disaster Management Organization, Behnam Saeedi, at least 407 people have been reported killed and over 6,700 injured in Iran, IRNA reported.
Leader of Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei issued a message offering condolences to the Iranian nation over the catastrophic disaster and instructed military and state organizations to mobilize their resources to provide aid to the quake-affected areas.
“From the depth of my heart, I express my sorrow and sympathy to the Iranian people, particularly the dear people of Kermanshah Province and especially families who lost their loved ones in this heartrending disaster,” Ayatollah Khamenei was quoted as saying by his official website.
The hardest hit region was Sarpol-Zahab County in Kermanshah, close to the Iraqi frontier, and its main hospital has been severely damaged. President Hassan Rouhani is also scheduled to travel to Kermanshah on Tuesday, IRIB reported.
