Iran's right to release Taliban hostages from Helmand
The Director General of the Office of Border Rivers and Shared Water Resources of the Ministry of Energy said, “Despite the statements of Afghan political officials and the favorable words of the Afghan Commissioner regarding adherence to the 1972 Helmand Treaty and the delivery of Iran’s water rights, unfortunately, less than 4 million cubic meters of water out of the 820 million cubic meters of water rights stipulated in the treaty has entered the country in the current water year.”
He emphasized: "The Iranian delegation, while strongly objecting to the statistics and figures provided by the Afghan side regarding the current water year situation and the amount of our country's water rights, demanded a visit and observation of the upstream measuring station of the Kajaki Dam based on the mechanism foreseen in the FIMA agreement, but due to the opposition of the Afghan side, access to the information or a joint review was not possible."
The 25th meeting of the Joint Committee of Helmand Water Commissioners was held in Tehran from 15 to 17 June 1401.
It is worth noting that Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, in a public session of the Islamic Consultative Assembly on Tuesday, May 10, stated that the issue of water in the country and the region is one of the "important priorities" and said: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other relevant organizations in the Islamic Republic must help to follow up on the "problem and discussion of existing water rights."
The Foreign Minister of the Islamic Republic said in the same meeting: "We are not satisfied with the interim governing body of Afghanistan regarding Iran's rights." According to the Foreign Minister of the Islamic Republic, with the release of part of the water from the Kamal Khan Dam in Afghanistan, "a small part" of its water reached Iran, but "many sabotages" took place in that country, and when the dam was "full of water," they did not release it, saying that "it had not been dredged."
Former Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, on August 25, 2021, at a time when public and expert criticism of the performance of the Islamic Republic's officials in the field of water resources over the past four decades was increasing, criticized the actions of Iran's neighbors in relation to rivers located on their territory, without naming any specific countries, and called on these countries to "observe justice in the appropriation of river water."
Source: Voice of America
