iranian wrestling star gholamreza takhti gathered blankets, money, and food for victims and transported them by trucks. because government response was slow, students at the university of tehran took matters into their own hands. after gathering supplies, the students organized an effort to dispatch medical students and interns to the site of the disaster. their teams were however blocked by iranian national guard members who had been commanded to kill any civilians who tried to help victims; writer marcello di cintio cites in "poets and pahlevans: a journey into the heart of iran" that the "shah was not about to let a crowd of students draw attention to his inept relief efforts".