Britain is praying for you, Prince tells Bam
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Miranda Eeles Times 10 February, 2004
Walking amid the rubble of thousands of flattened homes, the Prince of Wales
witnessed first-hand the appalling devastation inflicted on the historic Iranian city of Bam by a massive earthquake in December.
Speaking through an interpreter, the Prince told the crowds that gathered around him: “Tell them that my people in Britain are very concerned and they’re praying for the Iranian people.”
The Prince had earlier met President Khatami, in Tehran. Both men were reported to have discussed the need for dialogue to promote understanding between Islam and the West.
The Prince’s visit, the first to Iran since the overthrow of the Shah in 1979, was laden with political symbolism, and reflected Britain’s determination to improve ties with Tehran. But it was the scenes of ruin in Bam that provided the emotional focal point of the day.
During a visit that lasted several hours, the Prince saw how entire families had been wiped out and he passed the rows of tents in which the people of Bam now live. More than 40,000 people died in the earthquake just after Christmas and 100,000 were left homeless.
“There are six of us who live here,” Fatemah Ghorbani, 50, said as she stood in the entrance of her tent. “It’s very cold at night. I lost a son in the earthquake and my house is ruined.”
Later she said that 200 friends and relatives had died in the tragedy.
Flanked by minders and security guards, the Prince met earthquake survivors in one of the 13 international field hospitals set up to help the estimated 30,000 injured.
“I hope you are getting better. I hope they are looking after you,” he told Hossein Torkabadi, whose hands were severely burnt as he rescued his brothers and sisters from the rubble.
The Prince met farmers trying to rebuild the city’s ancient irrigation systems so that they could resume the date-growing for which the area is renowned. He told Barani Baravati, a farmer who now lives in a tent: “I wish we could do more. We’ve been trying to gather more assistance in Britain.”
Beyond the dusty, rubbish-strewn streets, the Prince, wearing a suit and tie, scrambled up a steep pile of collapsed mud to inspect the ruins of Bam’s 2,500-year-old citadel, a world cultural heritage site.
“Who is he?,” one chador-clad woman asked as she sat washing dishes on a rug outside her home, a Red Crescent tent. “What does he want? I hope he has come to help.”
The Prince thanked international aid workers, who welcomed his visit and the attendant publicity. Iain Logan, a Scot who is co- ordinating the International Red Cross’s aid programme, said: “This is still a very major disaster. Tens of thousands of people are still living here when the cameras have gone.”
The Prince had spent the previous night at British Ambassador’s residence in Tehran after visiting British troops in southern Iraq on Sunday.
His courtesy call on Mr. Khatami yesterday morning began with the two men posing for the cameras and exchanging pleasantries.
The President asked after the health of the Queen. The Prince asked about the President’s recent back problems. Then they retired for private talks, during which they discussed the need for “dialogue among civilisations and religions”, according to the official Iranian news agency.
Mr. Khatami was reported to have cited Iran’s agreement to open its nuclear facilities to international inspection after talks with Britain, Germany and France as a model for co-operation.
“We are trying to change misunderstandings into better understanding through talks and local behaviour,” he told the Prince, who said that Iran’s agreement to allow inspections was “very satisfying”.
British officials insisted that the Prince had made the visit in his capacity as patron of the British Red Cross, and played down the political overtones.
“This combines the Prince’s interests in several areas: humanitarian aid and British relief work overseas, architecture and rural life,” one said.
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