�IRNA � US Department of State in a statement expressed sympathy to bereaved families of the victims of Sunday's deadly earthquake in western Iran that has claimed lives of hundreds and injured thousands more.


'The United States expresses its sincere condolences to all of those affected by the earthquake in Iran and Iraq. We keep the families of those who were killed, and injured, in our thoughts as well as the communities that have suffered damage to homes and property,' the statement said.

Latest reports on the 7.3 magnitude earthquake that hit Kermanshah Province, western Iran and bordering Iraq, on Sunday night, said that it has so far claimed at least 430 lives and injured over 7,370 others.

Foreign leaders have extended their condolences messages. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi, German Ambassador in Tehran Michael Klor-Berchtold, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy are among the high-ranking politicians who sympathized with the Iranian nation and government on the tragic event.

Sitting on several major fault lines, Iran is one of the most seismically active countries in the world and prone to near daily quakes.

In 2003, a 6.6 magnitude earthquake killed 26,000 people in Bam in southeastern Iran and flattened the historic city. In August 2012, an earthquake killed more than 250 people in East Azerbaijan Province, northwestern Iran.