Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan has expressed gratitude for Iran's humanitarian aid to quake-stricken Japan, saying it has promoted hope among his nation.

“The Iranians' assistance has heartened the quake and tsunami stricken Japanese people,” Kan said in a statement on Tuesday.
The Japanese premier made a reference to the Iranians' sympathy and support for his nation and expressed gratitude for emergency relief provided by Iran's Red Crescent Society, IRNA reported.
Initiatives such as paying homage to the victims of the disaster at Tehran's Azadi Stadium and distributing food among the survivors by Iranian female diplomats are among the examples of such supports, he pointed out.
Kan pledged that his government will make earnest efforts to reconstruct the country's devastated areas prudently and ensured a “rebirth” for Japan.
On March 11, an 8.9-magnitude earthquake, off the northeast coast of Japan's main island, unleashed a 23-foot (7-meter) tsunami and was followed by more than 50 aftershocks for hours.
About 28,000 people are dead or have gone missing following the quake and ensuing tsunami.
The cost of the double disaster is estimated at around 300 billion dollars.
Reconstruction will begin soon, but Japan is still grappling with the nuclear crisis triggered by the natural disasters.
The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant was crippled by quake and tsunami, and workers have been racing against time since then to contain radioactive material leaking out.
Early April, Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency raised the severity level of the situation at Fukushima from 5 to 7 -- the worst on an international scale.
According to the agency, the amount of radiation emissions at the Fukushima plant was equivalent to 10 percent of that in the Chernobyl incident in 1986.
(Source: Press TV)