Ali Salajegheh, head of Iran’s Department of Environment (DoE), announced that Iranian officials and Taliban members have discussed water rights from the Helmand River.

Salajegheh said on Monday that they hope that diplomacy leads to receiving the water rights of Iran.

According to Iran’s Student News Agency (ISNA), the head of Iran’s Department of Environment stressed on the meeting with the Taliban and water rights issue and said that Iran’s president has personally intervened to address the issue.

However, Salajegheh did not provide more details about the meeting between the officials of the Taliban and the Islamic Republic.

In the past week, tensions between the Taliban and the Islamic Republic of Iran over water rights from the Helmand River have escalated.

Earlier, Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi asked Iranian officials to address the water rights issue through understanding and face-to-face talks instead of “making noise in the press”.

Meanwhile, the Taliban have said that they are committed to the water rights of Iran from Helmand River according to the 1973 water rights treaty between Iran and Afghanistan, but said that drought in Afghanistan is the main reason behind water shortage issues.

However, the Iranian authorities believe that the Taliban has been lying to them and have demanded a visit of Iran’s technical teams to assess the Taliban’s claims regarding drought and the lack of water in dams in Afghanistan.