Iranian foreign minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian expressed doubts about the Taliban's reasons for not complying with Iran's demands on the water rights issues. Amir Abollahian said that technical visits must determine the water level in Afghanistan’s dams.
The Taliban declared that due to drought, water from the Helmand River has not reached Iran.
Earlier, 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 the Kamal Khan and Kajaki dams to reach Iran.
In the statement, the Taliban prime minister’s office considered "Iran's repeated requests for water and inappropriate statements in the media as harmful".
In response to the Taliban’s statement, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Iran did not accept the official reasons presented by the Taliban and emphasised on the visit of a technical team from Tehran to measure the water level in Afghanistan dams. He stressed that political statements can’t determine the water rights of Iran.
On Twitter, Amir Abollahian said that in recent months, he has repeatedly asked the Taliban foreign minister to fulfil their obligations according to the Helmand water treaty and provide the ground for the visit of a technical delegation to measure the amount of water. However, he stressed that the Taliban side didn’t abide by the request.
Earlier, Amir Khan Muttaqi, the Taliban's foreign minister, in response to the request of the Iranian foreign minister and other Iranian officials, said that they should wait for rain so that there is enough water for consumption by both countries.
Meanwhile, Hossein Delirian, the spokesperson of the Iranian space agency, said that satellite images show that the Taliban has prevented water from reaching Iran inside Afghanistan by diverting the water by construction of numerous dams.
It seems that despite Tehran's insistence, the Taliban has refused to accept the Iranian technical delegation to measure the amount of water in Afghanistan.
