Toll increases to 70 in Iran floods, authorities call for evacuation in Southern province

Seventy people so far have lost their lives in the massive flooding that destroyed infrastructures and displaced of thousands across the country.

Al Jazeera reported that authorities on Sunday issued warnings of a fresh round of flooding and evacuated dozens of villages and towns in the southern region of Iran bordering Iraq.

On Saturday, Iraq officially closed the Chazabeh border crossing after Iranian Customs authorities banned traveling and trade through the border amid flood warnings in the south Iranian province of Khuzestan.

Citing the local media, CNN reported that the insistent rainfall since March 19 has so far flooded some 1,900 cities and villages across Iran.

Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli was quoted as saying that the flooding might affect about 400,000 people in Khuzestan out of more than 4.7 million residents of the province.

Meanwhile, Pakistan extended deepest condolences and sympathies to the victims of the floods.

"Our prayers go to the people of Iran as they deal with unprecedented flooding. We stand ready to provide any humanitarian assistance required," Prime Minister Imran Khan said on Twitter.