By Fatema Adeeb in TOLOnews, June 02, 2023 at 9:42 PM
Iranian foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian in an interview with an Iranian news agency said that Iran has water rights on the agenda and is pursuing the issue legally and politically.
He added that Hassan Kazimi Qomi, Iran’s special representative for Afghanistan, had discussed the issue with Islamic Emirate officials.
The Iranian foreign minister, speaking about the recent border conflict, said “these conflicts did not have any agendas behind them, and the situation in Afghanistan is understandable for us.”
Meanwhile, the Islamic Emirate’s spokesman, Zabiullah Mujahid, said that diplomatic paths are the only way to address the Helmand water treaty.
“We want the Helmand water treaty to be followed along diplomatic paths. There are the diplomatic paths that satisfy their Foreign Ministry and based on the understanding the issue will be solved,” said Zabiullah Mujahid, the Islamic Emirate’s spokesman.
The Helmand water treaty has recently turned into a controversial issue with the two sides blaming each other for breaching the agreement.
“To prevent such doubts in the future, there is a need to activate the stations in Deh Rawod,” said Najibullah Sadid, a water analyst.
According to the 1973 treaty, Afghanistan is committed to sharing water from the Helmand River with Iran at the rate of 26 cubic meters of water per second, or 850 million cubic meters per annum.
https://tolonews.com/afghanistan-183622
