Khamenei Calls for Resolution of Water Issues Between Iran and Afghanistan

Ali Khamenei, the leader of Iran, separately met with Narendra Damodardas Modi, the Prime Minister of India, and Mohammad Ashraf Ghani, the President of Afghanistan, on Tuesday. According to Khamenei's information website, during his meeting with the Afghan president, he emphasized the necessity of resolving the water issue of the border rivers between the two countries as soon as possible, stating: "Such issues should not cause discord and grievances in the relations between two countries like Iran and Afghanistan, which share borders, culture, and common needs." The Afghan president also mentioned that a technical meeting regarding the shared use of border rivers will be held in the coming weeks, and they hope to resolve this issue appropriately. Iran and Afghanistan have disagreements over the division of water from the Helmand River. The Helmand River flows from Helmand Province in Afghanistan into Lake Hamun in Sistan and Baluchestan Province in Iran. Iran and Afghanistan signed a treaty in 1972 to resolve the Helmand water issue, which stipulated that 20% of the river's water would flow to Iran annually. Reports indicate that prior contracts for 30% and 50% had been established but were halted after a while. According to the 1972 treaty, Iran's water rights from the Helmand River in Helmand, Afghanistan, were determined to be 850 million cubic meters annually. However, Iranian officials state that since the late 1990s and the increase in drought in Sistan and Baluchestan, the inflow of water from the Helmand River to Lake Hamun has decreased. An Iranian official previously stated that Afghanistan has been misrepresenting its uncontrollable floods as Iran's water rights for 16 years. Despite these disputes, the spokesperson for Afghanistan's Ministry of Energy and Water stated last month that Kabul measures 850 million cubic meters of Helmand River water annually in accordance with the 1972 treaty and directs it to the Helmand River and Lake Hamun in Iran. Meanwhile, Khamenei and Modi also met on Tuesday. According to Khamenei's website, he stated that the Islamic Republic of Iran welcomes the expansion of relations with India, which is one of the emerging and progressing economies in the world, and is fully serious about implementing bilateral agreements without being influenced by any policies. Khamenei further noted the "good economic future of India and also Iran's oil and gas resources, which make it the richest country in these resources," emphasizing that "in addition to oil and gas, as you mentioned, Chabahar is one of the important connectivity points between East and West, and North and South, which can serve as a basis for deep, long-term, and beneficial cooperation." On Tuesday, the presidents of Iran and Afghanistan and the Prime Minister of India signed a trilateral economic agreement for the development of the Chabahar port in southeastern Iran. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani stated during a joint press conference with Modi that Chabahar will serve as the starting point for a transit corridor between South and East and South and North, and with the completion of the Chabahar-Zahedan railway and then Zahedan-Sarakhs, this port could become a connecting point between various countries, including India with Afghanistan, Central Asian countries, the Caucasus, and Eastern Europe. The Indian Prime Minister also mentioned that his country will invest $500 million in developing Chabahar and will construct a port there.