Iran’s FM Wants Tehran’s Technical Team to Visit Afghanistan For Water Rights Issue

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”.

Taliban’s spokespersons for the ministries of foreign affairs and energy and water said that regular meetings are currently ongoing with Iran and based on the agreement of 1973, Afghanistan is committed to its implementation.

Iranian president on Thursday during a trip to Sistan and Balochistan province of his country warned Taliban and said that the group should provide his country with their water rights from the Helmand River. President Ebrahim Raisi emphasised that the Afghan side should take the warning seriously and must not complain later that they have not been forewarned.

On Wednesday, Iranian foreign minister also during a phone call told Amir Khan Muttaqi, Taliban’s foreign minister, that securing Iran's rights is a serious demand of this country and has an impact on the relations between the two countries.

After the Taliban’s takeover of power in Afghanistan, the Iranian government stressed on their water rights from the Helmand River. These pressures and warnings have increased over the past few months.

Matiullah Abid, Taliban’s spokesperson for the Ministry of Energy and Water, said that the commissioners of the two sides regulate the water levels, according to the 1973 agreement.

Zia Ahmad Takal, deputy spokesperson for the Taliban’s foreign ministry, also said that the group’s stance regarding Iran’s water rights according to the 1973 agreement is clear and they are committed to maintaining good relations with their neighbouring countries.

The water agreement between Afghanistan and Iran had been signed by former prime minister of Afghanistan and former prime minister of Iran in 1973.

Taliban’s Customs officials said that this cargo belongs to Shams Amin company and was supposed to be transported from Pakistan to Afghanistan.

Taliban said that the driver and a representative of the company has been arrested and handed over to the security officials for further investigation.

On May 3, Taliban’s ministry of finance had said that some explosives had been discovered and seized from Torkham Customs.

The group’s ministry had said that the explosives was skilfully embedded in a commercial cargo to be smuggled into Afghanistan.

According to the Mashregh News, on Thursday, Raisi said, “The rulers of Afghanistan should allow our experts to come and check the truth of the matter. If our experts confirm that there is lack of water there then, we will have no say in the matter. However, we will not allow any violation of the people’s rights.”

Iranian president has said that his government is determined to pursue the issue of Iran’s water rights.

Raisi called on the Taliban and said, “I ask Afghanistan rulers to take my warning seriously and take immediate action, so that people of this region receive their rights.”

On Thursday, Chabahar is hosting a special meeting to follow up on Iran’s water rights. Hossein Amir Abdollahian, Iran’s foreign minister also warned that the Taliban should open the Kajaki dam in Helmand province as soon as possible so that “people of Afghanistan and Iran, both get water”.

Amir Abdollahian during a call with Amir Khan Muttaqi, Taliban’s foreign minister, raised Iran’s demands. Amir Abdollahian and Muttaqi on Wednesday discussed Iran’s water rights during a phone call after the Iranian foreign minister met with his country’s officials in Chabahar.

Amir Abdollahian during a meeting, in which Kazemi Qomi, Iran’s ambassador in Kabul, was also present, said, “Our demand is clear. Taliban claims that the dam doesn’t have enough water, but we have clearly stated that according to the agreement of 1973, a joint technical team should determine it. We submitted the names of our technical team, so that they can visit Kajaki dam and judge if there is enough water or not.”

Earlier, the Taliban had said that they accept of Iran’s water rights. Muttaqi had said that if it rains a lot, water will be released to Iran as well. This comment caused a stir among some of the Iranian officials.

Moinuddin Saeedi, a member of Iran’s parliament said, “While migration from districts of Sistan and Balochistan increase due to lack of water, the Afghan side disrespectfully tells Iran to pray for rain.”

Bahrami stressed that the Taliban's recognition has not been planned by any country as they can't trust the group.

Taliban has denied the internal disagreements, however, many countries and even United Nations’ officials also believe that the group is facing massive intra-group rifts.

Earlier, Scott Smith, the head of the political affairs of United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), had said that a clear example of difference among the Taliban is the group’s different positions regarding the reopening of girls’ schools. According to Smith, Taliban in Kabul have differences with the Kandahari Taliban and Haqqani Network and they don’t know how to govern Afghanistan.

Bahrami on Wednesday at the ‘national conference of Afghanistan and prospect for the future’ which has been held in Iran said, “We must consider the fragility beside all the components of the Taliban's power.”

This former Iranian diplomat believes that there is no consensus about Afghanistan in the region and priorities of the regional countries are different.

According to him, the Western countries also have the ability to disrupt the current situation of the Taliban by using their military leverage, but they have no alternative.

The former ambassador of Iran in Afghanistan said that even if the countries are interacting with Taliban, they will not recognise the Taliban as a legitimate government.