Ordinary Iranians welcome U.S. aid team with open arms
Reuters - World News
Dec 31, 2003
BAM - Welcomed by ordinary Iranians and officials, a U.S. relief team started work in the devastated Iranian city of Bam on Wednesday seeking to offer medical aid in a country where Washington is dubbed the "Great Satan".
"For Americans to come here and help us in such a situation, I really appreciate it and all Iranians appreciate it," said Shi'ite Muslim cleric Sheikh Ahmad Faiz, as a U.S. team erected a tent bearing a large U.S. flag.
The Stars and Stripes is routinely burned during official demonstrations in Iran against the U.S. government which broke ties with Tehran shortly after the 1979 Islamic revolution.
"I welcome everybody who helps Iranian people, including the United States. This action is not related to politics," said 29- year-old Saman Ranjbar as two U.S. trucks emblazoned with Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department passed by.
Despite official antipathy towards Washington, ordinary Iranians are keen followers of U.S. culture and fashions and recent opinion polls show most favour the restoration of ties between the two countries.
U.S. aid workers -- some with Stars and Stripes badges on their uniforms -- said they were greeted warmly at every stage of their long journey that began in the United States on Saturday and ended in Bam late on Tuesday.
They arrived in the first U.S. military flights to Iran for over two decades.
"At every stop, they have opened their hearts," said Marty Bahamonde, spokesman for the team from the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency.
At least some of the U.S. group harboured hopes that the trip could improve years of bilateral tension.
"It actually feels fantastic to come here and help them and try to break the ice, so to speak," said Kent Watts, a 49-year- old rescue officer with the office of Foreign Disaster Assistance.
BUSH MULLING DIALOGUE BID
At least 30,000 people were killed in the December 26 quake centred on the ancient Silk Road City. About 14,000 were injured and around 100,000 made homeless.
"We are here as humanitarians," Bahamonde said.
"When you get down to it, we are just U.S. citizens trying to help their citizens deal with this terrible aftermath."
He said the team was making sure it did nothing to offend Iranian culture such as ensuring that women members followed strict Islamic dress codes to cover their hair in public.
An unnamed senior U.S. official said on Tuesday U.S. President George W. Bush had been considering opening dialogue with Iran, a country he has branded part of an 'axis of evil'.
"The earthquake kind of brings it to a head," he said, underlining that Bush expected a gesture from the Islamic Republic following the provision of U.S. aid.
Iran's President Mohammad Khatami has welcomed the aid, but insists it will not alter relations between the two foes.
"This has nothing to do with political issues. The problems in Iran-U.S. relations are rooted in history," he said. For the U.S. aid team the main complication was trying to arrange travel logistics in a country where the U.S. embassy has been closed for more than two decades.
"We are just very pleased to be allowed in here," said Bill Gavelink, manager of the U.S. Disaster Assistance Response Team.
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