TEHRAN

Seventy villages in Iran’s southwestern Khuzestan province were evacuated on Tuesday amid renewed fears of flooding, according to Iran’s IRNA news agency.

The evacuated villages are all reportedly located near the Dez and Karkheh rivers.

Iranian officials said Tuesday that recent flooding countrywide had claimed at least 45 lives and caused financial losses of some $170 million.

According to Mortaza Salemi, head of the Iranian Red Crescent, humanitarian aid has recently been delivered to more than 43,000 people in 293 cities and villages affected by the recent flooding.