Abdul Raza Farajirad, former Iran’s ambassador to Norway, said that Taliban is the same group that killed Iranian diplomates in Mazar-e-Sharif city in 1990s. Farajirad said that Taliban has not changed and Afghan embassy in Tehran should not have to be handed over to the group.
Farajirad, who is currently a university professor, added that the behaviour of the Taliban shows that they are becoming more violent as more concessions are being made to them.
The former Iranian ambassador stressed that the Taliban follows the policy of the previous Afghan government on water rights issues, and added that in some cases, they have lied about the lack of water in Afghan dams.
He said that the satellite photos show that they have changed the course of the water so that it enters the salt marsh and does not reach Iran.
Iran's former ambassador to Norway emphasised, "Iran has helped this group a lot since they came to power, and many of the issues that arose in the border areas were tolerated by Iran. Iran tried not to strain relations with the Taliban. But unfortunately, they do not have the capacity to cooperate with Iran."
He added that if the Islamic Republic ignores its claim on water rights from Helmand River, the Taliban will stick to Iran's issues in the future and will create problems at the borders with Iran.
The tensions between the Taliban and the Islamic Republic have increased since last Thursday, when the President of Iran, Ebrahim Raisi, made rather harsh statements in Sistan and Baluchistan regarding the water rights of Iran from the Helmand River.
Some Iranian officials said that the mistake of handing over the Afghan embassy to the Taliban should be corrected and this embassy should be taken back from the Taliban.
