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White House Rejects Blanket OK For Aid to Iranian Quake Victims

The Obama administration has refused blanket approval for humanitarian assistance that could help save the lives of thousands of earthquake survivors in northeastern Iran. An American well-versed about the issue told Al-Monitor that the White House is sensitive to election-year charges of being soft on Iran.
An earthquake victim stands near damaged houses in the earthquake-stricken town of Azerbaijan in Iran, August 13, 2012. Rescue workers in Iran on Tuesday recovered more bodies three days after two powerful earthquakes struck the northwest of the country, killing more than 300 people, but officials played down reports that casualty numbers may still sharply rise. Picture taken August 13, 2012. REUTERS/Farshid Tighehsaz/ISNA (IRAN - Tags: DISASTER) FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NOT FOR SALE FOR MARKETING OR ADVERTI

The Obama administration was quick to express condolences for the hundreds of lives lost in earthquakes last weekend in northwestern Iran, but initially refused blanket approval for humanitarian assistance that could help save the lives of thousands of survivors.

On Tuesday, the US Treasury Department announced that it would expedite authorization for private Americans seeking to send aid to quake victims. However, the administration rebuffed requests from Iranian-American organizations to approve a general license similar to what the Bush administration provided in 2003 after a massive earthquake leveled the ancient Iranian city Bam. That means Americans still must obtain specific approval from the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) to send money to individual Iranians and nongovernmental groups.

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