The numbers of dead and injured due to two strong twin earthquakes in Iran continue to rise. The newest figures according to media reports are grim: 300 dead 3000+ injured.
The epicenter of both seismic events was in Northwest Iran, an area prone to quakes.
While the aftermath is deadly and the cleanup is morbid, Iran immediately rejected foreign help after the earthquakes did extensive damage. Iran rejected the United States, Germany, Turkey and other countries' assistance in helping.
However an about face has just occurred: The regime not only ready to accept foreign aid but if you carefully parse the words, it appears they are seeking foreign aid. Only yesterday, global critics along with angry Iranians began to ask why the government isn't doing more to help.
The nation of Iran is constantly in the spotlight over its perceived attempts to have a nuclear program and the overreaching hostility it has shown towards Israel. The United States has been attempting to impose crippling sanctions on the country. However, now that natural disaster has destroyed so much, the State Department yesterday said that U.S. citizens can donate money to relief efforts without violating sanctions.
While the dead toll continues to be updated with gruesomely high new numbers, not to mention the alarming figure on injured, this seems to be a sad point to make on the victims: Most of them were woman, according to a report.
Along with cleaning up the dead, the same region of Iran is being pelted with continuous small aftershocks, something only making the situation more stressful and dire as it develops.