US offers assistance to quake-hit Iran; toll touches 306

Sending condolences for the loss of life, the United States has offered assistance to the earthquake-hit Iran.

“We stand ready to offer assistance in this difficult time,” White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said yesterday.

“The American people send the Iranian people our deepest condolences for the loss of life in the tragic earthquake in north-western Iran,” he said.

According to reports, the two back to back earthquakes in Iran last week killed some 300 people and injured 5,000.

“Our thoughts are with the families of those who were lost, and we wish the wounded a speedy recovery,” the Press Secretary said in a statement.

Death toll touches 306

The death toll in Saturday’s twin earthquakes in Iran has touched 306, a day after rescuers called off the search for survivors.

Scores of aftershocks have coursed through Iran’s mountainous northeast since the 6.4 and 6.3 magnitude quakes hit the region, where some 300,000 people live near the borders with Azerbaijan and Armenia.