IRNA – Iranian health minister announced that the country is ready to dispatch medical equipment for the crisis-hit Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar.

'International bodies have duty to prevent genocide (happening in Myanmar),' Hassan Qazizadeh Hashemi told reporters on Wednesday.

Condemning the killing of the defenseless people in Myanmar, Hashemi urged the international community not to keep silent on the issue.

Iran will also be ready to help sending medical equipment and humanitarian aid to Myanmar if the international community creates the proper opportunity, Hashemi stressed.

Prior to the 2015 Rohingya refugee crisis and the military crackdown in 2016 and 2017, the Rohingya population in Myanmar was around 1.1 to 1.3 million. They reside mainly in the northern Rakhine townships.

Many Rohingyas have fled to neighboring states. More than 100,000 Rohingyas in Myanmar live in camps for internally displaced persons, not allowed by authorities to leave.