Iran to send humanitarian aid for Palestinian refugees in Syria

TEHRAN,Dec.23(MNA) – The Iranian ambassador to Syria said that Iran plans to send its first cargo of humanitarian aid for residents of the Yarmouk refugee camp, which is the largest Palestinian refugee camp in Syria. In an interview with the Persian service of the Mehr News Agency published on Saturday, Ambassador Mohammad Reza Sheibani stated that Iran’s cargo of humanitarian aid contains blankets, medicine, and food and will be delivered to Damascus International Airport in the coming days. According to Sheibani, the decision to send the aid was taken by the Iranian Foreign Ministry and the Iranian Red Crescent Society. He also described the situation in the camp, which is located near the centre of Damascus and houses Palestinians and also Syrians displaced by the conflict, as “appalling”. The camp was attacked on December 16 and, according to Reuters, Syrian rebels took full control of the Yarmouk camp on December 17. Rebels said on Thursday that they had negotiated to put the camp back into the hands of Palestinians, Reuters reported. According to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, there are 486,000 Palestinian refugees living in nine official and three unofficial camps across Syria.