Afghanistan-Iran and its water rights

A dam near completion on the Helmand River in Afghanistan has become the center of disagreement between Afghanistan and Iran as both the neighbors’ dispute over water rights.

Afghanistan is considered as a self-sufficient water country but the irregularity and lack of structure has made it one of the lowest levels of water storage capacity in the world. There is estimation of at least 75 billion cubic meters (BCM) of water annually, where much of it is coming from big river basins such as the Amu, Helmand, Harirud-Murghab and Kabul. Mainly, these waters flow to the neighboring countries including Iran, Pakistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan.

Afghanistan has failed to bring its water under control in the last 20 years or at least make a good deal with its neighbor over it. There was some “water strategy” on the paper to regularize the inflow of water, but apparently it was in vain. This came when the Afghan farmers moved to the urban centers to secure their livelihoods due to lack of water irrigation and insufficient water that badly affected their agricultural output.

At the same time, Afghanistan becomes an electricity-importer state while some of its water from major rivers, including Helmand River, flows to the neighboring countries. Afghanistan had decided to supervise these waters and tried to build dams to generate electricity.

In that purpose, the Afghan government has started to invest in construction of new dams in the Helmand River, a tributary considered the lifeline of water in Afghanistan, and its basin covers approximately 49pc of the surface area of the country.

But apparently Iran is not happy with the process and after failing to reach any consensus on the area of diplomacy, now it has tried to threaten the Afghan government to reopen the flow of water.

Iran warns Afghanistan over water rights

Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi has openly called on the Afghan leaders not to violate water rights of the Iranian people and said his government is determined to defend this right.

Raisi warned the Taliban not to violate water rights of the people of Sistan and Baluchistan over their shared Helmand River, and called on the Taliban to take his world “seriously”.

Raisi also said that the Taliban should allow Iranian hydrologists to check the water levels of the river.

President Ebrahim Raisi during the inauguration ceremony of a project to supply water from the Gulf of Oman Iran’s eastern cities on May 18, 2023.

This is not the stop point as his Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian also came up with the same warning and said Iran will use “pressure as a tool,” to make the Taliban agree to allow its water from the Helmand River to flow inside Iran.

Amirabdollahian raised the water issue during his trip to southeastern border provinces of Sistan and Baluchestan, where he is scheduled to follow up on the case of Iran’s water rights, which has not become a center of a dispute with its neighbor Afghanistan.

Based on the 1973 treaty between Iran and Afghanistan, Amirabdollahian said that the people of Iran’s Sistan and Baluchestan have “a natural right” to benefit from the water that flows into the country from Afghanistan.

Meanwhile, the Iranian Space Agency said satellite images showed that the Afghan government prevented water from reaching the Iranian side of the border in some places by creating numerous dams and diverting the flow of water.

The agency said it was ready to submit the images, captured by the Iranian-made Khayyam satellite, to the Foreign Ministry.

Afghan-Iran FMs spoke on phone

Meanwhile, Afghanistan’s acting foreign minister, Mawlavi Amir Khan Muttaqi held a telephonic conversation with Iranian counterpart Amirabdullahian, where the two sides discussed the expansion of cooperation in different sectors including trade, electricity, railway, common border, water and release of Afghan prisoners in Iran.

During the talk, Muttaqi expressed his satisfaction with the recent visit of the Afghanistan trade delegation headed by the country’s minister of commerce and industry to Iran, and stressed that the two sides should intensify work to implement the Khaf-Herat railway project.

However, Muttaqi said that due to a drop in rainfall in the western parts of Afghanistan, the country has seen a significant drop in the amount of water in the Helmand River.

Taliban Spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid also said that due to severe drought, the water levels have dropped but said Kabul is “committed” to fulfill its obligation in the water treaty.

Inappropriate statements harm ties  

At the same time, Mujahid warned Iran over “inappropriate statements”, saying such behavior could harm ties between the two countries and should not be repeated.

Iranian officials have always stressed the importance of the implementation of the 1973 Helmand River treaty between Iran and Afghanistan, but Kabul says that drought and climate change has significantly reduced the level of water. At the same time Iran has been suffering from drought for some 30 years, but has worsened over the past decade, according to the U.N.’s Food and Agriculture Organization.  The Iran Meteorological Organization says that an estimated 97pc of the country now faces some level of drought.

Taliban Spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said the Islamic Emirate is committed to the water treaty of Helmand signed in 1973 between Afghanistan and Iran.

To overcome the drought, Iran has called on the Taliban to open the gates of the Kajaki,” a major hydroelectric power dam in Afghanistan on the river’s path.

However, the dam has been dried up due to severe drought, but the Iranian authorities doubt Taliban’s statement and say they need to go and see from near.

“Until Iran’s technical experts are not allowed to visit the water flow and upstream of Hirmand according to the Hirmand Treaty, especially Article 5 of Protocol No. 1 of that treaty, any comments regarding the reduction in Hirmand water are not acceptable,” Iranian media Mehr reporting citing the country’s foreign ministry’s statement.

Diverting the river’s water flow and non-cooperation on the part of Afghan officials cannot be justified by making political statements, the statement reads.

Still friendly negotiations on table

Iran said that so far negotiations and talks have been held in a friendly atmosphere and by adhering to the principle of good neighborliness, and expects that such talks should continue to resolve any kind of issues as other options are also on the table.

The statement furthered that Iran has the right to use other options and reserves to take necessary actions to defend from its water interest, but called on Afghanistan to fulfill its responsibility based on the agreement.

Responding to the statement, Taliban said that the water agreement between Afghanistan and Iran was signed half a century ago in 1973 and is still valid.

“The Islamic Emirate is committed to implementing its obligations,” Taliban foreign ministry said in a statement, and accused the Iranian side of lacking information on current water level and circumstances in the region.

Taliban said that Iranian officials should first complete their information about Helmand water and then express their demand with appropriate words.

Taliban once again retreated that “inappropriate” statements can harm the political relations between the two neighboring countries which is not in the interest of each side.