Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi on Thursday warned Afghanistan's Taliban* amid escalating tensions over the sharing of the Helmand River's water that flows through the two neighboring countries.
"I warn the rulers of Afghanistan to immediately give the people of Sistan-Baluchestan their water rights," Raisi told reporters during a visit to parched southeastern Iran where the Helmand flows into Hamun Lake in the Hamoun wetlands in the country's Sistan province.
Tehran and Kabul have long shared a bitter relationship over sharing of the Helmand's water.
Helmand's water is particularly important for Iran because the river is among the few sources of fresh water in an area known for its arid plains.
Moreover, over 60,000 hectares of the Hamoun wetlands, located in the Sistan Basin of the Sistan province near Afghanistan–Iran border, are dependent on Helmand's water.
However, with Iran's arid Sistan and Baluchestan provinces experiencing a parched summer, leading to a drought-like situation in the region, tensions between Kabul and Tehran over the matter have escalated in recent days.
Earlier this week, the Iranian ambassador to Afghanistan, Hassan Kazemi Qomi, accused the Taliban authorities of not releasing Iran's share of water from Helmand.
"The amount of water which comes from Afghanistan to our soil is not more than 27 million cubic meters… there is a big difference between the numbers stated in the water treaty and what happens," Qomi said.
As per the provisions of the treaty, Afghanistan is bound to release 820 million cubic meters of water from the river, but Iranian authorities have claimed that Kabul has been withholding its share.
"The issue of the treaty is a legal issue, to which the Afghan government is committed and declared its adherence. It must also implement the treaty," Qomi underlined.
* under UN sanctions for terrorism