Hassan Kazemi Qomi said that receiving a fair share of water from the Hirmand River in accordance with the 1973 Helmand Water Treaty has always been one of the Iranian diplomatic priorities.

He also said that according to the 1973 treaty a volume of 820 million cubic meters of Hirmand River, which is called Helmand River on the Afghan side of the border, must flow into Iran and the Afghan side is committed to releasing that share.

The Iranian diplomat noted that the Taliban since returning to power have insisted on their commitment to giving Iran’s share of water, but what has taken place in practice is far from their commitments.

“But the reality that happened was that last year, contrary to this insistence and commitment [from the Taliban], the amount of water that entered our country from Afghanistan was about 27 million cubic meters, which shows a huge gap with the agreed share,” the ambassador said.

He blamed the defects with the Kamal Khan Dam on the river in Afghanistan which divert the water behind the dam to a deserted area as one of the factors that spoil the water as well as some other administrative issues for not giving Iran’s water rights.

Kazemi Qomi further addressed the Taliban officials saying that in order to block the diverted water behind the Kamal Khan Dam to the deserted area,  the water has to flow constantly in the river. 

He went on to urge the Taliban official to meet Iran’s expectations by living up to their commitments regarding the technical failures with the Kamal Khan Dam as well as other administrative shortcomings.

KI/TSNM2895285