TEHRAN – Iran’s South Asia Director Mohammad Reza Barami expressed deep sadness that he killed more than 170 people, including 85 children, in the catastrophic floods in Pakistan on Thursday.
“I am deeply saddened by the loss of life caused by heavy rains and floods in Pakistan’s Punjab,” Balami said of X, extending Tehran’s pacific dol to Islamabad. “I wish Allah’s mercy to those who have lost their lives and who have given the will of our pitiful dol to the government and the people of Pakistan.”
The relentless monsoon has submerged vast areas of eastern Pakistan since June 26, causing flash floods that have claimed to live for 54 people in just 24 hours.
Pakistan’s most populous region – Punjab remains in an emergency, with the entire community drowning under record rainfall of over 100mm each day, and the military is deployed for rescue operations.
The National Disaster Management Authority has reported more than 124 weather-related deaths in the past three weeks, with the House of Representatives accounting for two-thirds of deaths.
The disaster evoked the traumatic memories of Pakistan’s 2022 superflood, which sank a third of the country, killing 1,700 people and chasing 30 million people.
UN officials now warn that this year’s monsoon could rival its devastation, and that glacial melts from the heat waves to the north are driving flood risks.
Tehran’s message of solidarity continues the tradition of brotherhood support among neighboring Muslim countries.
Iran was one of the first countries to send humanitarian aid during Pakistan’s 2022 floods.
Pakistani leaders have consistently recognized this relative and thanked Prime Minister Shebaz Sharif for recently mediating regional tensions to Tehran and affirming the nation’s “very historical and brotherhood”.