RNA – Ayatollah Alireza Arafi, the director of the Islamic Seminaries of Iran, visited the town of Sarpol-e Zahab in Kermanshah province, one of the two major towns most seriously affected by the earthquake which struck northern Iraq and western Iran on November 12th, and met with the victims of the tragedy and expressed his sympathy with victims of the earthquake.
During this visit, Ayatollah Arafi visited the Baqir al-Uloum Seminary in Sarpol-e Zahab which suffered 80 percent damage during the 7.3 magnitude earthquake and met with the principal of the seminary, Hujjat al-Islam Mokhtar Soleymani.
Hujjat al-Islam Soleymani presented Ayatollah Arafi with a report on the extent of the damage to the seminary and informed him of the status of the students and teachers of this seminary.
Ayatollah Arafi also met with Hujjat al-Islam Javad Fateminasab, the Friday prayer leader of Sarpol-e Zahab, and visited the Islamic Republic of Iran’s Red Crescent Centre in the earthquake-stricken town of 45,000 people.
The Friday prayer leader of Qom offered his appreciation to the personnel and workers of the Red Crescent for their rapid and sustained relief in the wake of the earthquake.
As many as 436 people were killed and 8,100 were injured after the earthquake hit the Iran-Iraq border region on the night of November 12.
More than 70,000 people across 14 Iranian provinces were left homeless.
Aftershocks continue to rattle the affected areas, with 647 tremors recorded until Sunday noon following the initial earthquake, as medics and rescue teams race to treat the injured and help retrieve bodies from under toppled buildings.