Iranian team in Afghanistan to inspect Helmand amid water dispute with Taliban

Iran has deployed a team of technical experts to take a tour of the Helmand River in neighboring Afghanistan to help tackle a standoff with the Taliban administration over the share of water.

Iran’s special representative for Afghanistan, Hassan Kazemi Qomi, said on Sunday the Iranian experts are visiting Helmand for the first time and would soon prepare a report on the level of water.

The Taliban have been refusing to allow Iran’s share of water from Hirmand, or Helmand, to stream into Iran and have caused a drought in Iran’s southeastern province of Sistan and Baluchestan which is located in a hot and dry region and receives low rainfall compared to other regions in the country.

Iran’s Space Agency said recent images obtained from Iranian satellites show that the Taliban government is preventing water from reaching the Iranian side of the border by building numerous dams and diverting the flow of the water.

Iranian officials have stressed that Afghanistan must adhere to the terms of the internationally-binding 1973 Hirmand River water treaty and supply Iran with its share of water from the river.

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