Mohammad Javanbakht, Iran’s Deputy Minister of Energy for Water Affairs, announced that efforts to secure Helmand River water rights from Afghanistan will increase.
According to him, under the Helmand Treaty, the Taliban are committed to delivering 820 million cubic meters of water to Iran, but during the current water year, only about 100 million cubic meters of water have entered Iran’s Chahnimeh reservoirs.
Javanbakht emphasized: “The issue of Helmand water rights is a continuous process and not limited to any specific time period.” He also stated that Iranian officials will continue their efforts to receive the full water allocation and the volume of follow-ups for the new water year will definitely increase.
This comes as since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan, the issue of Helmand water rights has repeatedly been raised by Iranian officials, but so far no practical action has been taken to secure the full water allocation.
Experts believe that the Taliban’s failure to adhere to the Helmand Treaty could pose serious challenges for eastern regions of Iran.
