The death toll in Iran has risen to 62 people as massive flooding continues.
About 1,900 cities and villages have been affected by floods and exceptionally heavy rains since March 19th.
The disaster, has left aid agencies struggling to cope with 86,000 people moved to emergency shelters.
The flooding has also caused hundreds of millions of dollars of damage to Iranian agriculture, an official said on Thursday, as the parliament speaker questioned whether government funds would be adequate to compensate communities and farmers.
Early estimates put agriculture sector losses at 47 trillion rials (about €390 million), the head of the Iran’s agriculture ministry’s crisis management, Mohammad Mousavi was quoted as saying by state news agency IRNA.
The government has assured citizens, and especially flood-affected farmers, that all losses will be compensated.
But the speaker of parliament, Ali Larijani, said on Thursday the new year budget would not suffice to cover the damages and the government should seek other resources.
Iran’s operating budget is already stretched under US sanctions on energy and banking sectors that have halved its oil exports and restricted access to some revenues abroad.
President Hassan Rouhani, whom critics have accused of mismanaging the response to the disaster, said on Wednesday the sanctions were also hampering aid efforts.
