U.N., U.S. offer aid to Iran, Pakistan in wake of 7.8-magnitude earthquake

A 7.8-magnitude earthquake hit the remote south-east Iran-Pakistan border on Tuesday, with tremors felt across Pakistan, India and the Middle East, BBC News reports (4/16). "According to media reports dozens of people were killed in both countries when the quake struck the border region," and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon "[v]oic[ed] sorrow over the victims" and "promised both countries United Nations assistance should they need it," according to the U.N. News Centre (4/16). U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry also offered assistance to the two countries, saying in a statement, "The United States sends our deepest condolences for those lost in the earthquake in southeastern Iran and western Pakistan today. Our thoughts are with the families of those who were killed, those who were injured, and with those communities that have suffered damage to homes and property" (4/16). "'The death toll is estimated at more than 40, including women and children,' Major Attiq Minhasof from the paramilitary Frontier Corps Baluchistan told Agence France-Presse," South Africa's Mail & Guardian notes (Khan, 4/17). "However, Arbabi and Sistan and Baluchestan Governor General Hatam Narouie disputed that there were deaths," CNN reports (Smith-Spark/Bozorgmehr, 4/16).