KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – Iran has once again accused the Taliban of failing to meet its obligations under a decades-old treaty on water sharing from the Helmand River, renewing a long-running dispute between the neighbors.
Mohammad Javanbakht, Iran’s deputy minister for water and wastewater affairs, said Saturday that Afghanistan released just over 100 million cubic meters of water into Iran’s Chahnimeh reservoirs this year — far short of the 820 million cubic meters guaranteed under the 1973 pact.
“We are in the final month of a water year that has been unprecedentedly dry, with extremely low rainfall,” Javanbakht said. He added that the shortfall created a “significant gap” between what was agreed and what Iran has actually received.
He said Iran has been in constant contact with Taliban officials and would intensify diplomatic efforts in the new water year. “The pursuit of Iran’s rightful share of Hirmand water is an ongoing process and not limited to a specific period,” he added.
Meanwhile, Iran’s conservative daily Jomhouri Eslami accused the Taliban of deliberately cutting water supplies to pressure Tehran. In an editorial titled “End Taliban’s Impudence,” the paper called on the Iranian government to respond with political and economic pressure.
“The Taliban are intentionally cutting water flows to Iran,” it wrote, accusing Iranian leaders of ignoring hostile behavior while offering “political and economic concessions.” The editorial also criticized the late President Ebrahim Raisi’s government for granting the Taliban privileges “normally reserved for a recognized government.”
The treaty, signed in 1973, requires Afghanistan to provide Iran with an average of 22 cubic meters of water per second. But disputes have erupted repeatedly, especially during droughts, with Iran accusing Kabul of failing to deliver.
The Taliban deny the allegations, saying they are committed to the agreement but argue that years of drought have left too little water in the Helmand River.
In 2023, an Iranian technical delegation inspected the Dehrawood gauging station in Helmand and confirmed that water levels were below those of a normal year.
