A shipment of approximately 150 tonnes of food and essential items sent from Russia’s Dagestan republic has arrived in Iran, according to its governor, Sergey Melikov, Al Jazeera reports.

“The shipment will be handed over to the Red Crescent Society of the Islamic Republic of Iran, which will deliver it to the poor and needy,” Melikov says.

The effort has been coordinated by the Dagestan Ministry of Transport, the Russian Foreign Ministry’s office in Dagestan’s capital, Makhachkala, and the Pure Heart charity foundation.

More than 300 tonnes of medicine were also delivered earlier to the Astara border crossing in Azerbaijan and then handed over to Iranian officials, the Russian Emergency Situations Ministry has told broadcaster RTVI.