Afghan media reports say the acting Minister of Foreign Affairs, Amir Khan Muttaqi noted that the issue of water should not be politicalized and it should be solved through negotiations.
TOLOnews cited him as saying that the recent droughts should not be ignored, and Kabul expects the Iranian officials to make their demands based on the treaty.
Addressing a ceremony on the 7th anniversary of the death of former Islamic Emirate leader Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansour, Muttaqi reportedly said that the Islamic Emirate is committed to the Helmand water treaty signed in 1973.
“Regarding Iran's water rights, the Islamic Emirate is committed to the water treaty of 1973 but the drought that exists in Afghanistan and region should not be ignored,” he said.
Afghan media reports note that the tensions between Afghanistan and Iran has risen since Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi said that the current Afghan government should ensure Iran's water rights of the Helmand River based on international treaties.
Iranian media reports say Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi warned Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers on May 18 not to violate water rights of the Iranian people over their shared Helmand River. Raisi said Iran’s government is determined to defend Iran’s water rights, according to Iran’s state-run news agency IRNA.
Raisi spoke in a Pakistani border town on May 18, during his first official visit to the neighboring country in 10 years, to inaugurate the first of six markets along Iran’s common border with Pakistan.
Iranian officials have always stressed the importance of the implementation of the 1973 Helmand River treaty between Iran and Afghanistan, which envisions shared water resources.
The 1973 treaty between Afghanistan and Iran states that Kabul will share the water from Helmand River with Tehran at the rate of 26 cubic meters of water per second, or 850 million cubic meters per annum.
