Water Level of Helmand River Has Drastically Declined, Says Taliban’s Deputy PM

Abdul Ghani Baradar, Taliban’s Deputy Prime Minister, in a meeting with Ali Akbar Mehrabian, the Minister of Energy of Iran, said that the group's approach towards water rights from Helmand is right.

Baradar told Mehrabian that the technical delegation of Iran, which recently visited the Helmand River, confirmed the decline in the water level of the river.

On Tuesday, the Taliban’s Prime Minister's office posted on X social media platform that Mullah Baradar had mentioned that Afghanistan possesses abundant resources for hydro, wind, solar, and coal energy production.

In the statement, the group also stated that Mullah Baradar had a conversation with Mehrabian regarding water management, drought, and Iran's technical cooperation in electricity production in Afghanistan and the use of irrigation systems.

Mullah Baradar said that in many areas of Afghanistan, people were forced to be displaced due to the drought and lack of water.

In the last two years, the Iranian government and the Taliban have had tensions over Iran's water right from the Helmand River.

Following these tensions, Iran's foreign minister told the Taliban that the practical release of Helmand River’s water and supply of water to Iran is a serious demand of the country and has an impact on the relations between Afghanistan and Iran.

The Taliban, stressing on its commitment to the water treaty between the two countries, said that the water level of the river has decreased due to drought. Recently, a delegation from Iran visited the Helmand River to assess the situation.