Referring to the Austrian cooperation since the 2003 Bam earthquake in Iran, Scholz said that the exchange of experiences between Tehran and Vienna in the field of crisis management is a step in the direction of the development of the two countries’ relations, which the Iranian President has emphasized.

Austrian Ambassador mentioned that high experience and knowledge in the field of relief and rescue in Iran can be useful for Austria and the international community, adding that Austria welcomes the bilateral cooperation with Iran in transferring the experiences of the two countries in this field.

Holding rescue exercises and cooperation with universities in the field of crisis management, as well as training of experts and managers will be among the priorities of the two countries, he noted.

Reza Karami, for his part, said that flood and earthquake are two notable crises which should be considered in Tehran, adding that Tehran is highly vulnerable due to worn-out texture and population density.

He mentioned that there are active faults in Tehran, as well as rivers which can cause floods.

We hope that through the experience and assistance of the Austria, we will solve some of the problems we are facing, Karami added.

Emphasizing on the development of relations between the two countries and exchange of experiences in the field of crisis management, he said that Iran welcomes any bilateral and multilateral cooperation in international relations.

Iran is one of the most seismically active countries in the world, being crossed by several major faults that cover at least 90% of the country. As a result, destructive earthquakes in Iran occur often. Since 1900, at least 126,000 fatalities have resulted from earthquakes in Iran.

Also, from mid-March to April 2019 widespread flash flooding affected large parts of Iran, most severely in Golestan, Fars, Khuzestan, Lorestan, and other provinces. Iran has been hit by three major waves of rain and flooding over the course of two weeks which led to flooding in at least 26 of Iran’s 31 provinces and at least 70 people died nationwide as of 6 April, according to the officials.