GENEVA: The most senior UN official in Iran said Tuesday the organisation’s humanitarian and development aid budget to the country would need to be doubled following the war with Israel.
Stefan Priesner, the UN resident coordinator in Iran, said he hoped the international community would step up with more funding.
“We are now doing the budgeting” for 2025, he told a press briefing in Geneva.
“It’s a significant increase,“ he said. “It’s a bit early to say how much we exactly need. But we certainly would expect a doubling of the funding.”
He said that last year’s UN budget for development and humanitarian affairs in Iran was $75 million -- roughly $50 million for refugees and $25 million for the development programme.
Iran hosts the largest number of refugees in the world -- around 3.5 million -- most of them from Afghanistan.
Speaking from Tehran, Priesner said he hoped aid and development would be seen as separate from other issues and the situation would trigger the international community to increase its support.
On June 13, Israel launched a major bombing campaign against Iran, killing top military commanders and nuclear scientists.
The Israeli strikes hit military bases, nuclear sites and residential areas across Iran.
Iran retaliated with waves of missiles and drone strikes, hitting cities in Israel. A ceasefire took effect on June 24.
Priesner said that in 2022, the UN and the Iranian government agreed a five-year programme on public health, socio-economic resilience, environmental protection, disaster reduction and management, and drug control.
The UN is now in talks with Tehran on “how to adapt the programme to meet emerging needs” following the conflict with Israel.
Priesner indicated that the UN normally has 50 international staff in Iran and about 500 local staff.
Although some employees and their families had to leave their homes when Israel’s bombardment began, he said normal operations had resumed on Sunday.
