Mohsen Rohisefat, a former Iranian diplomat in Afghanistan, said that the dry lands along the course of the Helmand River near the borders of Iran have turned into green fields, and "drugs have even been cultivated in these lands”.
Rohisefat claimed that the Taliban use Iran’s share of water from the Helmand River to irrigate these dry lands.
This former Iranian official said that these farms have been seen through aerial images taken from the area.
According to Rohisefat, "This shows that [the Taliban] use all the water of Helmand River in these fields."
He explained that the Taliban have built a new diversion channel so that no more water will flow to Iran.
On Thursday, the Jomhouri-e-Islami daily quoted this former Iranian diplomat as saying that "begging will not make the Taliban provide water rights” from the Helmand River to Iran.
Earlier, Ali Salajegheh, head of Iran's Environment Organisation, said that the Taliban have released 15 million cubic meters of water instead of 850 million cubic meters of water that the group is obliged to release based on the water treaty between the two countries.
Meanwhile, in response to the question that was it a mistake to accept the Taliban embassy before Iran's water rights from Helmand River were received, Rohisefat claimed that "it was definitely a mistake”.
He said, "The people of Afghanistan are unhappy with the Taliban and do not want the group. Why should we accept the embassy of a minority group in Afghanistan that does not give any rights to its people and considers them as subjects? We should not have accepted the Taliban embassy so easily.”
