Iran to Send Relief Team to Japan Soon

Head of Islamic Republic Red Crescent Society said that Iran's first relief team carrying humanitarian aid would be soon sent to Japanese people, the official IRNA news agency reported on Saturday.

In an interview with IRNA, Abolhassan Faqih said Friday that the Islamic Republic of Iran Red Crescent Society in line with its humanitarian mission offered its relief aid on the first hours after the occurrence of the quake and tsunami in Japan.

"The Japanese Embassy (in Tehran) announced Tokyo's readiness to receive the Iranian Red Crescent relief aid on Friday morning after which we urgently began preparing to send our relief teams and aides to the Japanese victims of the disaster," Faqih was quoted as saying.

On Friday, people across Japan commemorated the one-week mark since the earthquake struck by offering silence and prayers for the victims.

Japan's national police agency said 7,197 people had been confirmed dead and 10,905 officially listed as missing, a total of 18,102, as of 9:00 AM Saturday (0000 GMT) as a result of the March 11 catastrophe.

Over half-a-million evacuees are now living in more than 26,000 shelters. A record 262 aftershocks of magnitude 5 or greater were registered in the seven days, following the magnitude 9.0 earthquake off northeastern Japan on March 11.