Iran Warns Taliban Over Water Share 2023

President Ebrahim Raisi of Iran warned the Taliban authorities in Afghanistan that they will have to face the repercussions for failing to provide Sistan and Balouchestan with its share of the Hirmand River’s water.
Thursday, while speaking to reporters during a visit to Sistan and Balouchestan, Raisi warned “the Afghan authorities and rulers” that they must provide Iran with its share of water immediately.

“I’d like to remind the leaders of Afghanistan that they cannot take our request lightly and must take it very seriously,” the president continued.

Regarding rumors that the Kajakai Dam in southern Afghanistan does not contain much water or that sediment has accumulated in the dam, the president stated that Afghanistan should permit Iranian specialists to observe the situation.

If Iranian technicians affirm that the dam in Afghanistan lacks water, there will be no debate, but if there is water, Iran will not tolerate the violation of the rights of its citizens, he warned.

Iran has repeatedly criticized Afghanistan for violating the letter and spirit of the agreement.

Raisi implored the Taliban once more to heed the warning and refrain from claiming in the future that the issue could have been resolved through diplomacy and politics.

In addition, the president reassured the people of Sistan and Balouchestan that the administration is diligently working on a plan to transfer water from the Sea of Oman, but that the plan will take time.

Iran and Afghanistan have been embroiled in a protracted dispute over the water of the Hirmand River, which begins in the Hindu Kush Mountains near Kabul and flows 1,126 kilometers south into the Hamoun wetlands in Sistan and Balouchestan, Iran.

The two countries signed a water-sharing agreement on the Hirmand River in 1973, in which Afghanistan agreed to provide Iran with an annual average of 820 million cubic meters of water.