TEHRAN (Tasnim) � Five new rescue helicopters that Iran�s Red Crescent Society (IRCS) has purchased will enter service within a month, an official announced.

Speaking to the Tasnim News Agency, Morteza Salimi, deputy head of the IRCS Relief and Rescue Organization, said the five Bell 412�s are now being flown in flight training courses.

The new copters have the capability to land on water, he added.

The Iranian parliament has recently allocated a budget to boost the country�s rescue and relief operations.

Relief choppers are used by the Iranian Red Crescent Society, a nongovernmental humanitarian organization, for search-and-rescue missions and transporting victims of natural disasters.

By Tasnim News Agency