Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said on Tuesday Tehran is pursuing issues related to water rights treaties with neighboring countries.
Speaking at a press conference, Raisi said that the discussions and follow-ups of Kazmi Qomi, his special representative for Afghanistan affairs, led to the dispatch of an Iranian group of experts and the Islamic Emirate allowed the group to determine the amount of water for Sistan and Baluchistan province.
Referring to the problems of water shortage in Iran, Raisi said that his country already has agreements with its neighbors regarding water.
Tensions between Iran and the Islamic Emirate escalated in recent months after Tehran accused Kabul of restricting the flow of water.
Earlier this year, Iran’s president warned the IEA not to violate water rights of the Iranian people over their shared Helmand River.
About a week ago, however, Iran’s minister of energy said that following the inspection of Deh Rawood hydrometric station in Helmand province, it was found that the drought in Afghanistan is ‘serious’.
Iran’s VP and Head of Department of Environment Ali Selajeqa has also recently said that the water issue in Afghanistan itself is not favorable. According to him, the IEA has agreed that if the rain conditions are good, it will give Iran’s share of water.
Meanwhile, the spokesman of the Islamic Emirate said that Iran itself knows the water situation of Afghanistan and the drought has caused water not to reach this country.
“Recently, they sent a delegation to Deh Rawood to check the amount of water. They have left. It was proved that there is not enough water to transfer and drought is still a problem in Afghanistan. Just as there are problems in Sistan and Baluchistan, Iran, there are also problems in Afghanistan. it is a disaster, they understood this,” Zabihullah Mujahid said.
