Iran’s state-run news agency IRNA reported on April 29 that the interior minister of Iran has said that a proper response has been given to the Afghan border guards and that presently, there is no problem in the border crossing between the two countries.
Ahmad Vahidi reportedly made the remarks in Tehran on Monday while speaking about the recent border tension between Iran and Afghanistan.
The conflicts in the joint border lines were minor; meanwhile, due response was naturally given to the Afghan side, the interior minister was cited as underlining.
There is no problem at the present time, Vahidi noted adding that the border point is open and everything is calm there.
Afghanistan’s Taliban authorities and Iran said on May 28 that deadly clashes between their border security forces had subsided, with both sides engaging in talks to ease tensions.
The skirmishes reportedly erupted in the Afghan border province of Nimroz on May 27, killing two Iranian security forces and a Taliban border guard.
According to the Voice of America (VOA), both sides traded blame for the heavy exchange of cross-border gunfire, escalating Iran's tensions with Afghanistan amid a dispute over water resources.
Recall, Afghan media reports said last week that the acting Minister of Foreign Affairs, Amir Khan Muttaqi has noted that the issue of water should not be politicalized and it should be solved through negotiations.
TOLOnews cited him on May 23 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.
