Iran awaiting UN clearance for Russian aid delivery to Iraq

Iran has said it is waiting for UN clearance before it allows a shipment of aid from Russia to leave western Iran for Iraq, Iranian radio reported on Tuesday.

It said Iran had declared its readiness to help the transit of foreign humanitarian aid to Iraq, within the framework of the regulations of the Sanctions Committee of the UN Security Council.

"At present a consignment of humanitarian aid from Russia has arrived in Kermanshah, and the local officials are trying to dispatch this consignment to Iraq by road," a foreign ministry statement, quoted by the radio, said.

"The Foreign Ministry has informed the UN representative office in Tehran, and is waiting for a reply." The radio said sending assistance to Iraq by air required special permission from the UN.

"The Islamic Republic of Iran feels duty-bound to respect regulations of the UN Security Council" , it said.

BBC Monitoring (http://www.monitor.bbc.co.uk), based in Caversham in southern England, selects and translates information from radio, television, press, news agencies and the Internet from 150 countries in more than 70 languages.