TEHRAN: At least two people were killed in flash flooding in Iran's southern province of Fars, a local official said on Monday.

"Two people from this province were trapped by water and lost their lives", Mehdi Khoobyar, deputy head of the Iranian Red Crescent in Fars, told the Young Journalists Club, a news agency affiliated with state television.

One of the victims died in the city of Darab, he added, without giving details on the second.

Relief teams "who were already on full alert, were dispatched to the flood-affected areas" in at least five cities in the province, he said.

The Red Crescent had "provided relief aid or rescued" hundreds of people, Khoobyar was quoted as saying by Tasnim news agency.

Meteorological authorities had warned Sunday of heavy rain and floods in southern provinces including Kerman and Hormozgan, local media reported.

Heavy rains caused damage to agricultural lands and blocked roads in Hormozgan province, and damaged some infrastructure in the southeastern province of Sistan-Balushistan, state news agency IRNA said Sunday.

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A weather system causing heavy rain is covering Iran's south and several neighbouring Arab countries of the Gulf.

Torrential rainfall has hit the United Arab Emirates, where its official news agency WAM said bad weather is expected to last until Thursday.

Saudi Arabia and Oman were also impacted by the dense weather system, and Kuwait suspended school classes and exams on Monday.

Largely arid, Iran has been suffering chronic dry spells for years.

In 2019, heavy floods in the south left at least 76 people dead and caused damages estimated at more than $2 billion.