The Taliban’s prime minister’s office strongly criticised the Iranian official’s statements on water rights from the Helmand River. The office of the Taliban’s prime minister called Iranian president’s statement as “inappropriate words” and based on “incomplete” information.
The Taliban’s statement called Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and other Iranian official’s remarks harmful to the relationship between Iran and the Taliban.
On Thursday, Raisi warned the Taliban officials to allocate the share of water of Sistan and Baluchistan from the Helmand River. He said that the Taliban should take his warning seriously and "not complain later that we weren't told”.
However, the statement of the Taliban’s prime minister’s office, said that although the Taliban is committed to the 1973 water treaty between Iran and Afghanistan, due to drought, no water is available in Kamal Khan and Kajaki dams to reach Iran.
The statement stressed that the Taliban "will do their best to ensure that the promised water reaches the people of Iran, but only on the condition that our water reserves are sufficient" to flow to Iran.
However, Raisi showed in his statement that the Islamic Republic does not trust the Taliban about the lack of sufficient water in the dams of Afghanistan.
He bluntly said, "Afghanistan's rulers should allow our experts to come and check the authenticity of the matter. If our experts confirm the lack of water, we have nothing to say, otherwise, we will not allow the rights of our people to be violated in any way."
In the statement, the Taliban prime minister’s office considered "Iran's repeated requests for water and inappropriate statements in the media as harmful".
Addressing the Iranian authorities, he said, "First, they should complete their information about Helmand water and then, express their demand with appropriate words."
The Taliban prime minister’s office added that such statements "must not be repeated”.
