Messages of sympathy have been flowing across the country to the people of the Islamic Republic of Iran through the Chancellor of the Iranian Cultural Consulate in Freetown, Mr. Mohamed Reza Ghezel Sofla, for the earthquake that has taken away so many lives and destroyed property.

Among those who have expressed sympathy are the Imam Ali Development Foundation and the Fatima Zahra Women's Organization in the Koya Rural District. The organization has expressed solemn sympathy with the Iranian people who are victims of the earthquake that has struck, and for those who have lost their lives. "We are deeply sorry for what has befallen our Muslim brothers and sisters in the Islamic Republic of Iran," said Abdullah Koroma, Executive Secretary of the Foundation.

The earthquake has caused the loss of many lives and property in the Islamic Republic of Iran. "Each soul lost in the quake is not only a loss to the Islamic Republic of Iran but is also a loss to the Islamic community at large," Koroma added.

The Imam Ali Development Foundation and its affiliate Fatima Zahra Women's Organization are community-based organizations engaged in poverty alleviation in the Koya Rural District, 24 miles from the capital Freetown.

The Executive Director of the Foundation, Alpha Rashid Jalloh, a veteran journalist, described the disaster as a loss to the Muslim world. "We empathize and bear great remorse for what has happened to the people of the Islamic Republic of Iran. This is the time when we as true Muslims should show solidarity to the victims of the earthquake if not in any way but by kind words," he said.