Sadr calls on Shia militias to help flood-affected regions in Iraq not Iran

Sadrist Movement leader Muqtada Al-Sadr has called on the Popular Mobilisation Forces to provide assistance to flood-affected regions in Iraq instead of sending aid convoys to Iran.

“Since there are those who have provided relief to affected areas in Iran, it is our duty to intensify our efforts to provide relief to our people in Iraq,” Al-Sadr said on Twitter, adding that “Iraqis come first”.

Al-Sadr said when the Iraqis no longer suffer from the floods, then aid could be provided to neighbouring countries including Iran.

Iranians can be seen on a military tank due to the flooding in Iran on 8 April 2019 [Iran Interlink/Twitter]

The aid convoy included 26 trucks of engineering equipment, six ambulances as well as 20 trucks of medical and food supplies.

Head of Iraq’s Popular Mobilisation Forces which played a major role in organising the aid, Abu Mahdi Al-Muhandis said on the sidelines of dispatching the humanitarian aid to Iran that “the Iraqi people will never forget Iran’s support during their fight against Daesh [ISIS] and will side with the flood-affected people till the situation is normalised”.

The Iranian Ambassador to Iraq, Iraj Masjedi, said on Saturday that “hundreds of Iraqi militia, including 200 on Friday, have arrived in Iran to help the flood-hit people in Khuzestan and Lorestan provinces in western Iran.”

READ: France to send aid to flood-hit Iran regions