Iranian regime mismanagement to blame for flooding: Pompeo

Mike Pompeo said the floods “once again show the level of Iranian regime mismanagement in urban planning and in emergency preparedness.”

“The regime blames outside entities when, in fact, it is their mismanagement that has led to this disaster,” Pompeo’s statement continued.

Iran has been hit by flooding across most of the country for the past two weeks.

The northeast of Iran was swamped on March 19 before the west and southwest of the country were inundated on March 25, killing a total 45 people.

The remarks came after Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif accused the United States of impeding aid efforts and "economic terrorism" on Monday as authorities ordered the immediate evacuation of flood-stricken cities in western Iran.

US sanctions are "impeding aid efforts by #IranianRedcrescent to all communities devastated by unprecedented floods," Zarif tweeted, referring to search and rescue operations being conducted after huge rainfalls triggered vast flooding.

"Blocked equipment includes relief choppers," the tweet read, adding that "this isn't just economic warfare; it's economic TERRORISM."

The evacuation was ordered after rivers burst their banks, dams overflowed and vast areas were cut off from communication.

A chronic shortage of rescue helicopters in Iran, due to US sanctions, has forced the emergency services to request help from military helicopters and amphibious armoured personnel carriers to assist in the rescue operations.

The authorities declared a "situation red", the highest level of alert, in Lorestan province with four or five cities "completely critical", state television news network IRINN reported from Khorramabad, the region's capital.

Meanwhile, Khuzestan has an extensive range of dams but officials said water was flowing into them at a fast rate.

In some cases water levels were only 70 centimetres (around 27 inches) lower than the dam crests, they reported.

"Our dams are more than 95 percent full," Khuzestan governor Gholamreza Shariati told state TV.

Water was released from dams as an emergency measure to prevent them from breaking, leading to fears the outflow may cause havoc in cities, towns and villages downstream.

This week the deluge hit the west and southwest, with at least four deaths already reported even though emergency services have only begun reaching regions cut off by floods.

"Seventy-eight intercity roads have been blocked, as many as 2,199 rural roads and 84 bridges have been washed away," said Behnam Saeedi, spokesman for the National Disaster Management Organisation.

"Across 15 provinces, 141 rivers burst their banks and around 400 land slides were reported," he told state TV.

At least 47 people have been killed over the past two weeks, while tens of thousands have been made homeless.

US President Donald Trump ended a historic nuclear deal with Iran last year, enacting tough sanctions on the country which has seen the economy tank.

Despite his accusations, Pompeo on Wednesday extended condolences to the victims of Iranian flooding and said the United States was prepared to offer help. 

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