Report in TOLOnews Online, May 24, 2023 at 9:58 PM
The Iranian Minister of Interior, Ahmad Wahidi, at a public forum rejected the statements of Islamic Emirate authorities about the lack of water in the Helmand River and said that the existing reports are “contrary to the claims made, and that is why the officials’ field visit is proposed and if there is no water, the issue will be resolved.”
The tension between Kabul and Tehran has recently risen over water rights.
Earlier, the acting Foreign Minister of the Islamic Emirate, Amir Khan Muttaqi, said that the level of water has significantly dropped in the Helmand river and that the residents in the southeastern provinces are struggling with drought.
Speaking at a ceremony on the 7th anniversary of the death of former Islamic Emirate leader Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansour, the acting Minister of Foreign Affair Amir Khan Muttaqi said that the Islamic Emirate is committed to the Helmand water treaty signed in 1973.
“The Iranians for the past 50 years have used Afghan water for free,” said Zalmay Afghanyar, a political analyst.
This comes as the former US special envoy for Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad, said that Iranian leaders are saber-rattling, threatening Afghanistan with a range of hostile actions, including perhaps war.
“Why? They argue that Iran is not receiving water from Afghanistan that it should be getting under a 1973 treaty between the two countries,” he said.
He also said that the Taliban authorities are being surprisingly restrained and statesmanlike over the issue.
Khalilzad recommended that the two countries “should try bilateral diplomatic engagement to find a solution, make use of the good offices of a third party and if neither step works, then the issue should be submitted to arbitration.”
“When the Islamic Republic of Iran and the government of Afghanistan are not reaching an agreement, they can bring the UN or a third country as (mediator) to assess the issue technically and find a solution,” said Sayed Wali Aqili, former advisor to the national water management authority.
This comes as the residents of Musa Qala district in southeastern Helmand province, who were interviewed by TOLOnews, said they are facing a dire situation as the only river in the district has recently dried up.
The residents said that they have suffered heavy losses with their crops due to lack of water.
https://tolonews.com/index.php/afghanistan-183506
