“We started in the middle of last year and we promised our people that during six months we are going to complete and inaugurate 227 projects in the water and electricity industry and we did so,” Iranian energy minister was quoted as saying by Fars News Agency.

He added that 10 days before the end of the last Iranian year we inaugurated all 227 projects, including several large dams, drainage networks, water treatment plants, as well as hydro-power plants, thermal power plants, and renewable energy plants.

“We think it’s very important for our people to see that while sanctions are very severe and painful, we will benefit from these sanctions,” Ardakanian said.

His remarks came as Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Thursday inaugurated several infrastructural projects in the central, southeastern, and southern parts of the country.

Ardakanian made the remarks in a meeting with Afghanistan’s Acting Foreign Minister Mohammad Haneef Atmar in Tehran, reported Fars News Agency.

“Joint water projects related to Harirud river will be pursued by both sides,” he said.

“We have made good progress regarding joint water resources based on the 1973 Helmand Water Treaty,” Atmar noted, adding, “Both sides decided to do technical and specialized studies in this field and cooperate with each other with regards to the rights of both nations.”

Harirud originates from Afghanistan and flows across the common borders with Iran.

In early January 2019, Ardakanian, in a meeting with Afghanistan’s Deputy Minister of Energy and Water Khan Mohammad Takal, exchanged views on ways to bolster bilateral cooperation in the water and energy sectors.

During the January 6, 2019 meeting in Tehran, Ardakanian and Takal called for mutual cooperation between the two states for full implementation of the Helmand Water Treaty.

The Iranian energy minister urged the Afghan government to join UNESCO’s Urban Water Management Program.

In the meantime, the Afghan official, for his part, thanked Iran’s support for Afghanistan in energy and water fields and called for promotion of two countries’ bilateral cooperation.

Iranian and Afghan commissaries held the 19th meeting of their joint committee in Tehran on January 5, 2019 to address the issue of the water right of the Helmand river.

The meeting kicked off in the morning in Iranian Ministry of Energy, aiming to address water right issues under 1973 treaty. The talks are underway for better implementation of the agreements.

The two countries were represented by deputy ministers for the first time, planned through diplomatic coordination.

Agriculture Minister Kazem Khavazi was present in the inaugural ceremony of the projects in Sistan and Baluchestan, IRNA reported.

Rouhani said the country’s success in tackling the coronavirus epidemic and dealing with the “virus of US sanctions” shows that Americans will never be able to bring the Iranian nation to its knees and will have to remain in despair over their wrong approaches.

The Iranian nation may rest assured that the Islamic Republic will not allow a grin on the face of the arrogant rulers at the White House, Rouhani said.

“We’ll do something that they [US leaders] would remain in grief and sorrow in their wrong political approach forever,” the president added.

He emphasized that the “severe and unprecedented sanctions and pressures” have failed to impede the Iranian nation’s progress.

“The US cannot bring our nation to its knees, the evidence of which is these projects that we are implementing in the current Iranian year (starting March 20) after two years and a couple of months of tough sanctions,” he added.

Although the coronavirus and the “American virus” of sanctions have created problems for Iran, none of them can halt the country’s progress and production, President Rouhani underlined, noting, “We will keep production and will do our utmost to achieve the goal that the Supreme Leader has set for a surge in production this year.”