Ashraf Ghani: Afghanistan will now give water to Iran in exchange for oil

The Afghan president says that with the opening of the Kamal Khan Dam, his country will now provide water to Iran in exchange for oil.

Mohammad Ashraf Ghani, who attended the official inauguration ceremony of the Kamal Khan Dam in Nimroz Province on Wednesday, April 24, emphasized that the construction of this dam is not against the interests of Afghanistan's neighboring countries.

Kamal Khan Dam is built on the Helmand River on the border of Iran and Afghanistan.

Iran and Afghanistan have been at odds for years over the rights to the Helmand River and Lake Hamun due to an unprecedented drought in the region.

The Helmand Water Rights Agreement was signed between Tehran and Kabul in 1972, but in the late 1970s, as monsoon rains decreased, the water level in Lake Hamun, whose main source of water is the Helmand River, reached a minimum.

In recent years, dozens of villages in Sistan and Baluchestan province have been deserted, and according to an Iranian parliamentarian, only 19 percent of the province's residents have access to safe drinking water.

Source: Radio Farda