Iran Ready to Offer Humanitarian Assistance to Syria

Secretary General of Iranian Red Crescent Society Mohammad Abbasi said on Saturday that Iran is ready to provide the Syrian nation with whatever humanitarian assistance they need.

He also added that IRSC has devoted efforts to helping Syria’s neighboring countries set up refugee camps for the Syrian people who have fled the country since the crisis began in March 2011.

Iran’s humanitarian assistance for Syria includes food products and relief supplies, Abbasi added.

He further announced that Tehran has so far dispatched several consignments of humanitarian aid to Damascus, including 50 tons of rice.

The head of the United Nations refugee agency warned Tuesday that Syria could be on the “verge of the abyss” as aid workers brace for a likely increase in the number of refugees who have already fled the country’s civil war.

Antonio Guterres, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, called on Syria’s neighbors to keep their borders open to accommodate additional Syrians seeking to escape the war.

The UN says more than 1.7 million people have registered as refugees since the begining of unrestin the country in March 2011.

It also warns that 10 million Syrians, or half the country's population, will need aid by the end of the year.

Lebanon is currently home to the highest number of Syrian refugees, and around 300,000 of them are children. More than 2,000 children have crossed the border entirely alone, having become separated from their families.