TEHRAN, August 30 (RIA Novosti) - Iran's foreign ministry spokesperson Hamid Reza Asefi offered condolences to relatives of hurricane Katrina victims, an Iranian foreign ministry official said Tuesday.

"The people of the Islamic Republic of Iran sympathize with the American people, especially with families of the victims of the natural disaster," the official statement said.

The spokesman expressed hope that "in the near future the situation in the states affected by the hurricane and the life of local residents [would] return to normal."

Hurricane Katrina caused massive destruction and flooding in America's southeastern states of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. U.S. President George Bush declared these states a natural disaster zone Monday.

According to the latest confirmed reports, the number of hurricane deaths has reached 68.