Iran’s Ambassador in Kabul: I hope water from the Helmand River reaches Iran by May

Bayan News – Hassan Kazemi Qomi, Iran’s Ambassador in Kabul, expressed hope that Iran will receive its rightful share of water from the Helmand River by May of the next solar year.

In an interview with the ISNA news agency published today, Thursday (February 28), he stated that Taliban officials in Kandahar also emphasize that Iran should be given its water rights.

The Iranian Ambassador in Kabul further added that according to experts, the Kamal Khan Dam is a diversion dam, and at the same time, its capacity is low and its water also flows towards the salt marsh.

Qomi stated, “In the past year, Taliban officials told us that they have addressed the problems of the dam. First, they controlled the wall that holds back the water and causes it to overflow. Second, they repaired the main gates of the dam, and third, they flattened the land in front of the main gates.”

This Iranian diplomat continued, “The water issue is one of the important topics that we are pursuing with Afghanistan. Of course, there are other issues such as security, counter-terrorism, economic and trade cooperation, combating drugs, border security, and safeguarding the Persian language, and so on, which are also on our agenda, and we have good cooperation in a significant portion of these issues, and we hope the water issue will also be resolved in an intimate atmosphere.”

Officials from the caretaker government in Kabul have not yet commented on these statements.

It should be noted that in the past year, relations between the Taliban and Iran have been tense regarding the water issue.

Taliban officials have stated that due to recent droughts, there is not enough water in the rivers of Afghanistan.