The 2,500 tonnes of rice donated to Iran by the government was delivered to an Iranian cargo ship in the Kaohsiung Harbor yesterday.
The rice was donated by the Council of Agriculture to help victims of an earthquake that rocked the historic Iranian city of Bam in late0 December.
The Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzu Chi Foundation -- Taiwan's largest charity, which has sent volunteers to assist in post-disaster relief work in the southeastern Iranian city since early January -- arranged for the delivery of the rice. Fifteen Tzu Chi volunteers assisted in loading the rice onto the Iranian freighter.
A Tzu Chi spokesman said its volunteers in Bam will also assist in distributing the rice to earthquake victims when the rice arrives in Iran in early March.
The aid program is expected to meet the rice needs of more than 80,000 quake victims in Bam for the coming three months, the spokesman said.
Despite the absence of formal diplomatic relations between the two countries, the government has donated US$100,000 in post-quake relief aid to Iran, in addition to sending a 61-member rescue team to assist in relief operations immediately after the Dec. 26 earthquake.
The Taiwan Red Cross Society also collected 30 tonnes of relief goods, including jackets, blankets, wool socks and wool hats for Iranian quake victims. The goods were delivered by a China Airlines cargo plane in early January.
More than 26,000 Bam residents were killed and at least 30,000 others injured in the earthquake.
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