TEHRAN, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) -- Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Monday paid a visit to Iran's western province of Kermanshah, where relief efforts are still underway after a massive earthquake that killed 436 people last week, Tasnim news agency reported.
His visit to the quake-ravaged province is aimed to meet the victims and those left homeless by the quake and observe the course of relief operation in close, the report said.
Khamenei sympathized with the families of victims and called for more relief efforts by the Iranian officials.
"I feel the same pain that each of you have in your hearts," Ayatollah Khamenei told a gathering of people in Sarpol-e-Zahab which is the hardest hit town, according to Press TV.
"I was also among you during the imposed war. You showed your mettle and endurance in the imposed war. Show it also today. The brave and heroic people stand and defeat the mishap," Khamenei said referring to Iran-Iraq war in 1980 when Sarpol-e-Zahab was captured by the Iraqi forces before the city fought back and drove out the invaders.
"Look, how Iran considers itself indebted to Kermanshah. Everyone helped as much as their means would allow them," he was quoted as saying.
According to the report, the earthquake has led to an outpouring of solidarity from Iranians across the country and millions more in the diaspora, prompting state officials and personalities to visit the affected areas.
Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani traveled to Kermanshah on Sunday to inspect recovery operations after President Hassan Rouhani did the same earlier in the week.
Ali Daei, a legend in Iran's soccer and former national team coach, has been at the center of a campaign to gather people's donations.
The Iranian Army and the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) have worked hand in hand to provide relief and rescue operations.
Authorities should double their diligence and efforts to help those affected, "in the same way that the Army rushed to the assistance of those caught under the debris in the cities and the IRGC did so in the villages in the early hours after the earthquake," Khamenei said on Monday.
"Their presence was effective. Had they not come, we would have suffered much more bereavement and sadness, and our casualties would have gone much higher," he added.
Government spokesman Mohammad Baqer Nobakht said on Sunday that as much as 70 million U.S. dollars had been allocated to be given out to the affected families in the from of free loans.
In the 7.3 magnitude earthquake, with the epicenter near Iraq's Sulaymaniyah, over 9,000 Iranians were also wounded.
The earthquake destroyed 11,000 rural houses and 4,500 urban dwellings in Kermanshah province.
