Raisi's Deputy Admits Regarding 'Hirmand Water Rights': 'Nothing Has Happened'

On Wednesday, March 9, the head of the Environmental Protection Organization and Deputy of Ebrahim Raisi told reporters about the 'Hirmand water rights': 'Nothing has happened.' Ali Salajegheh added: 'No specific event has occurred regarding the Hirmand water rights, while meetings are ongoing with the presence of the Ministry of Energy representing Iran.' Earlier reports indicated that the Taliban government disregarded the requests of farmers and officials in Sistan and Baluchestan province this summer by refusing to provide water rights for the Hirmand River to prevent drought and damage to Iranian farmers. This situation has led to the drying up of Lake Hamoun, as stated by Hassan Vahid, Deputy of Watershed Management at the Natural Resources Organization, on November 4, when he said the lake was 'completely dry.' He told the state news agency ISNA that the lack of water in this area has turned it into a 'critical center of dust storms.' Mohsen Rouhi-Sefat, a former Iranian diplomat in Afghanistan, also mentioned in mid-August this year about the Hirmand water rights in the Tehran-based newspaper 'Jomhouri Islami' that the Taliban has not provided Iran's water rights but has cultivated its own lands, including opium fields. Sistan and Baluchestan province has experienced one of its driest months this year in the autumn and winter seasons, with the provincial meteorological organization reporting a '67 percent' decrease in rainfall compared to the long-term average. Previously, Ali Akbar Mehrabian, the Minister of Energy, criticized the Taliban government in Afghanistan on Friday, February 1, stating that Taliban officials are making 'excuses' regarding drought. He added that if the Taliban do not provide the water rights, 'we will use legal and judicial tools.' This official of the Islamic Republic did not provide further explanation on this matter, and other officials of the Islamic Republic have also not commented on it so far. The treaty regarding the water of the 'Hirmand River' between the then Iranian government and the Afghan government includes '12 articles and two attached protocols' signed on March 13, 1973, in Kabul. According to Article 6 of this treaty, 'Afghanistan should not take actions that would make Iran's water rights for agriculture generally unsuitable or contaminated by chemicals resulting from industrial wastewater to the extent that it cannot be treated by the latest technical and conventional methods, making the use of water for essential needs impossible and harmful.' Based on this agreement, Afghanistan is required to send 820 million cubic meters of Hirmand water to Iran annually.