Qomi Criticizes Taliban for Wasting Water From Kamal Khan Dam

Hassan Kazemi Qomi, Iran's Special Representative for Afghanistan Affairs, criticized the Taliban for releasing water from the Kamal Khan dam in Farah province. Qomi said most of the water released from the dam flooded the salt marshes in the province and went to waste.

Qomi confirmed that after negotiations with the Taliban on the trans-boundary waters of the Helmand River, the Taliban released water from the Kamal Khan dam.

According to Iran’s Special Representative for Afghanistan Affairs, due to the Taliban’s mistake, citizens of Iran's Sistan and Afghanistan's Zaranj provinces faced a scarcity of water.

However, he added that over the next few days, the meetings involving the technical delegations of Iran and the Taliban will be held to discuss the provision of Hamoun wetland’s water rights and the implementation of related treaties.

Citing Iran’s Representative for Afghanistan Affairs, Iranian media have reported that the Taliban have agreed to the implementation of the Hamoun wetland’s water rights treaty.

Iran and Afghanistan signed a treaty in 1972 to use Hirmand water, according to which the annual amount of water that enters Iran from the Hirmand river is quantified.

However, Iran is not satisfied with the amount of water that enters the country.
Qomi hopes that his country will be able to reach a new agreement on the water rights with the Taliban in the near future.