Tehran asks Taliban to remove hurdles to Iran’s water rights

mahla — Sat, 30 Jul 2022 04:43:47 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) –The Taliban government in Afghanistan has been urged by Iran’s foreign minister to eliminate the artificial hurdles so that the Islamic Republic’s water rights from the Helmand River are realized.

Hossein Amir Abdollahian made the comments during a phone conversation on Thursday with Amir Khan Muttaqi, the acting Afghan foreign minister.

According to the Iranian official, a high-ranking delegation from Iran’s Ministry of Energy will visit Afghanistan to work on removing any remaining barriers that prevent Iran from drawing water directly from the Helmand River.

Afghanistan and Iran have been involved in a prolonged dispute for many years over water sharing. In a 1973 agreement on water sharing, the two parties agreed that Afghanistan would provide Iran with an average of 820 million cubic meters of water annually.

The Islamic Republic has chastised Afghanistan for breaking the deal on several occasions.

The development of many hydroelectric projects on the river, most notably the Kamal Khan dam in Nimrouz province and the Kajaki dam located 100 miles (160 kilometers) northwest of Kandahar province, has exacerbated the situation.

On Wednesday, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi urged serious action on Iran’s water rights from Helmand.

Raisi gave the go-ahead for the issue to be addressed by the nation’s foreign and energy ministries, stating that “a popular government would, under no pretexts, back down from pursuing the nation’s rights.”

Amir Abdollahian said that Kabul’s decision to permit Tehran to use its water right would serve as an essential indicator of the Afghan government’s adherence to its commitments under international law toward the Islamic Republic.

He cited Sistan and Baluchestan in southeast Iran as being dependent on Helmand’s water, warning that if the problem was not expeditiously and seriously rectified, it might harm other areas of cooperation between the two nations.

For his part, the Afghan official characterized the relationships as brotherly and intended to aid the Afghan country.

He said that Afghanistan is committed to letting Iran use its water rights, offering to set up a collaborative technical and operational team that might change the water’s course to flow back towards Iranian territory.

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Iran to use legal channels to secure water rights from Helmand

mahla — Mon, 23 May 2022 04:51:20 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) – The Islamic Republic of Iran will pursue its rights for water supply from Helmand River through legal channels, an Iranian diplomat said.

Saeed Khatibzadeh, Spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told IRNA on sidelines of his visit to Dogharoon border crossing on Saturday.

The spokesman went on to say that Iran’s water rights have not been met by Afghanistan so far, adding that high commissioners of both sides discussed the supply of Iran’s water rights from Helmand on different occasions in Sistan and Baluchestan province.

Helmand River Water Treaty was signed between Kabul and Tehran on March 13, 1973. According to the agreement, Iran must receive 820 million cubic meters of water from the Helmand River.

There is good infrastructure in Dogharoon border crossing, which facilitates transit of goods, he said, expressing hope that Afghanistan would set up proper facilities in border areas.

The aim of this visit is to inspecting economic capacities of Dogharoon border crossing, Khatibzadeh noted, adding that expansion of infrastructure in border crossings indicates good neighborliness between Afghanistan and Iran.

Dogharoon border crossing is one of the most important border areas, which plays key role in development of Afghanistan-Iran cooperation, he argued.

The FM spokesman, heading a delegation, inspected Dogharoon International Border Crossing on Saturday morning.

The delegation also paid a visit to construction projects envisaged for the Dogharoon border crossing.

Dogharoon border crossing dates back to 100 years ago and is one of the five best economic border crossings in Iran.

More than 2 billion dollars of commodities are being exported from Dogharoon border crossing to Afghanistan per annum.

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Tehran asks Taliban to remove hurdles to Iran’s water rights

Iran to use legal channels to secure water rights from Helmand