Afghan Refugees Consume 10-Fold More Than Iran’s Water Rights, Says Iranian Lawmaker

Mahmoud Ahmadi Bighash, an Iranian lawmaker, compared Iran’s water rights from Helmand river to the needs of Afghan refugees in Iran. Bighash said that Taliban should know that 10 million Afghan refugees consume ten times more water than Iran’s water rights from Helmand River.

Ahmadi Bighash, who is a member of the national security and foreign policy commission of the Iranian parliament, questioned the Iranian president’s diplomatic skills and said, “Raisi, where is the art of powerful and effective diplomacy?”

The Iranian lawmaker has reacted to the recent order of Ebrahim Raisi, Iran’s president, who instructed the country’s foreign ministry to seriously pursue Iran’s claim of water rights from Afghanistan’s Helmand River.

The Iranian lawmaker emphasised that the Taliban should provide water of the Helmand River to match the level of consumption of what he called “ten million Afghan refugees in Iran”.

Iran has announced that the issue of water rights from Helmand River is a top priority of its foreign policy.

Hassan Kazemi Qomi, Charge d'Affaires of the Iranian embassy in Kabul, said in an interview on Sunday with an Iranian TV that the Taliban must implement the water treaty between Afghanistan and Iran.