FM to visit Sistan and Baluchistan province to discuss Iran-Afghanistan water dispute

Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian is to visit Sistan and Baluchistan province in the southeast of the country to follow up on Iran’s water rights from the Hirmand River, which has been a source of tension with neighboring Afghanistan.

According to Press TV, Foreign Ministry Spokesman Nasser Kan'ani said on Wednesday that the minister will have a meeting with provincial officials in the province to discuss the issue.

The spokesman said Hassan Kazemi Qomi, president’s special envoy on Afghanistan, and Rasoul Mousavi, an assistant to the minister, will accompany Amir-Abdollahian during the visit.

The Hirmand River, also known as Helmand in Afghanistan, has been at the heart of a long-running water dispute between Tehran and Kabul.

Iran and Afghanistan signed a treaty in 1973, under which Iran is entitled to receive 820 million cubic meters of water from the river per annum.

But the treaty was never implemented in full and negotiations never advanced, as Afghanistan plunged into decades of instability and various governments adopted different policies toward Iran.

The current caretaker government in Afghanistan, created by the Taliban following their takeover of the country in 2021, has announced it will remain faithful to the 1973 agreement.

But Iranian officials and lawmakers have time and again complained the country is not receiving its due share of water from the river.

On Monday, President Seyyed Ebrahim Raeisi ordered the Foreign Ministry as well as the Energy Ministry to seriously pursue the dispute with Afghanistan over shared water resources.

Kazemi Qomi said on Tuesday that Iran received only four percent of its water share during the previous Iranian calendar year, which ended on March 20.

He said Afghan officials have promised to work to remove obstacles in the way of Iran receiving its share from the river, and expressed optimism the dispute will be settled in the current Iranian calendar year.

Iran FM, Afghan acting minister discuss water share from Hirmand

A statement by the Foreign Ministry said Amir-Abdollahian on Wednesday had a phone conversation with Amir Khan Muttaqi, the acting Afghan foreign minister, during which they discussed Iran’s share from Hirmand and other issues of mutual concern.

The FM said Tehran seriously demands its share of the Hirmand River, as Afghanistan’s failure to give Iran its share has created many problems for people in Sistan and Baluchistan province.

He expressed hope Afghan officials will adopt necessary measures to settle the problem, including the creation of a joint technical committee assessing the conditions of water resources in Afghanistan.

SS