Two Iranian MPs Warn Four Ministers About Protests in Kabul Against Islamic Republic Leaders

A month after protests in Kabul against Hassan Rouhani's remarks about Afghanistan's dam policies, two Iranian MPs issued a written warning to four ministers to take "appropriate action" regarding the Afghan people's rally "against" Ayatollah Khomeini, Khamenei, and the Iranian president. According to Khabar Online, Alireza Mohajer and Nader Qazipour, on Tuesday, June 7, requested the ministers of interior, intelligence, defense, and foreign affairs to respond appropriately to the protests by some Afghan citizens in Kabul against Ayatollah Khomeini, Ayatollah Khamenei, and Hassan Rouhani. The MPs did not provide further details about the protest in their warning. Their reference may pertain to the rally by members of the National Participation Party of Afghanistan in Kabul on July 9, where Najibullah Kabuli, the party's president, described Hassan Rouhani's statements about dam constructions in Afghanistan as interference in the internal affairs of the country. He also accused Iran and Pakistan of attempting to "destabilize the national unity government" of Afghanistan and claimed they were "training" the Taliban and the Haqqani network. During this protest, images of Ayatollah Khomeini, Khamenei, and Hassan Rouhani were displayed with lines drawn through them and the word "Satan" written on them. The Iranian president stated on July 3 at an international conference on dust storms in Tehran, "We cannot remain indifferent to what destroys our environment; the construction of multiple dams in Afghanistan and their impact from Kajaki to Salma, Kamal Khan, and other dams in northern and southern Afghanistan affects our Khorasan and Sistan and Baluchestan." Following this, some Afghan officials, including Najibullah Azad, deputy spokesperson for the Afghan president, stated that Afghanistan utilizes its waters based on a prior treaty with Iran and international laws, with 80% of Afghanistan's water flowing to neighboring countries, especially Iran and Pakistan. The reconstruction of the Salma dam in Herat, the reconstruction of the Kamal Khan dam in Nimroz, and the construction of the Kajaki dam in Helmand are among the Afghan government's efforts to manage its waters. Iran and Afghanistan also have differing views on the division of water from the Helmand River, which flows from Helmand province in Afghanistan to the Hamoun Lake in Sistan and Baluchestan province in Iran. In this context, Ali Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Republic, called for a swift resolution to the disputes over the border rivers' water during a meeting with Mohammad Ashraf Ghani, the president of Afghanistan, on June 24.