The government will provide Iran with relief aid worth 50 million yen to help the Middle East country cope with the major earthquake that killed at least 2,400 people, the government's top spokesman said May 12.

Relief goods such as 2,000 blankets and 280 tents are to be shipped to Iran May 13, Chief Cabinet Secretary Seiroku Kajiyama said. In addition, Tokyo will extend $200,000 in emergency grant aid to Tehran, Kajiyama said.

According to Kajiyama, Tehran has not asked for the dispatch of doctors or other relief personnel. Separately, the Hyogo Prefectural Government decided the same day to send 2,000 blankets for Iran's quake survivors. Tomio Saito, chief of the prefecture's disaster prevention center, said the decision came because the prefecture received "tremendous support" from overseas after the January 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake.