Flash flooding in Shiraz in northern Iran, March 25, 2019

Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani says a new source of revenue is needed for Iran to pay for damage from floods across the country.

Larijani visited the Karkheh Dam in flood-struck Khuzestan Province in southwest Iran on Thursday. He indicated that the current Iranian budget does not have the funds to pay for destruction, including damage to 60,000 homes with 25,000 of them demolished.

On Wednesday, the Supreme Leader told an audience in Tehran, “I have stressed to the officials that the main step of reconstruction and compensation comes next and that these losses must be wholly compensated.”

Larijani said that he had discussed the matter with the Rouhani Government, and some resources had been identified. However, he did not provide any details.

The floods started more than two weeks in northern Iran, fed by heavy Iran. They spread across central and then to western Iran, where a state of emergency had been declared. At least 62 people have been killed, and 86,000 moved to emergency shelters.

See also Iran Daily, March 4: Supreme Leader Tries to Ease In-Fighting Over Flood Response

The head of the Agriculture Ministry’s crisis management, Mohammad Mousavi, said the sector has lost about 47 trillion rials ($350 million).

Iran’s economy has been crippled by long-term problems and comprehensive US sanctions, which were imposed last November after Donald Trump withdrew from the 2015 nuclear agreement between Tehran and the 5+1 Powers (US, UK, France, Germany, China, and Russia).