Taliban Should Help Revive Hamun Lake & Prevent Humanitarian Disaster: Iranian Official

Mojtaba Zuljodi, the deputy of Iran's Department of Environment, warned that an environmental and human disaster will take place in Sistan region.

Zuljodi asked for the Taliban’s cooperation in releasing the country’s water rights from the Helmand River along with the revival of the "Hamun" lake.

He told Tasnim news agency that Hamun's wetlands have "completely dried up".

According to Tasnim, the Iranian official added that the life of Hamun Lake depends on the water levels of the upstream rivers, including Farah and Helmand of Afghanistan.

Zuljodi said, "Unfortunately, with the diversion of the water of the Hirmand (Helmand) River from its natural path and the creation of numerous structures on the Farah River upstream and the lack of respect for the historical and natural rights of this ecosystem, the wetlands of Hamun have completely dried and the lake has become a center of dust".

He warned that the range of dust storms arising from the dry bed of the wetland will also reach Afghanistan. According to the Deputy Director of Iran's Department of Environment, thousands of people in Sistan and Baluchistan province have been infected and hospitalised as a result of these storms.

Zuljodi called for good neighbourliness and the implementation of the water treaty between Afghanistan and Iran, the correction of the natural stream of the rivers, and the release of the water needs from the downstream environment by Afghanistan.

He called on the Taliban and international organisations to "leave aside political debates and help revive this ecosystem with international value, which is the duty of all members of the Convention on Global Biological Diversity, including Afghanistan, and to prevent environmental and human catastrophe in the Sistan desert and the region”.

This Iranian official emphasised that paying attention to these international obligations and the need to achieve the environmental water right of the Hamun wetland is one of the serious plans of the Iranian government through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Energy of the country.

In the past months, tensions increased between the Taliban and the Islamic Republic of Iran over the water rights of Tehran from Helmand River.

In May, Ebrahim Raisi, Iran's President issued a warning to the Taliban during a visit to Sistan and Baluchistan province over the release of Tehran’s water rights.

During his visit, Raisi warned the Taliban, "Take my words seriously so that you don't complain later."

The Taliban, on the other hand, had said that it is committed to releasing Iran's water right according to the 1973 water treaty.