Iran FM urges settlement of shared water, refugee disputes with Afghanistan

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi says the disputes with Afghanistan over shared water resources and refugees should be solved.

Araghchi made the remark in a meeting with the prime minister of the Taliban government in Afghanistan, Mullah Mohammad Hassan Akhund, in Kabul on Sunday.

He said Iran has never sought to interfere in Afghanistan and calls for the full implementation of the Hirmand River agreement signed between the two neighboring countries to resolve the water issue.

He added that the two issues of the Afghan refugees in Iran and the water dispute “should turn into factors for expanding cooperation.”

Araghchi reiterated Iran’s commitment to managing the repatriation of illegal Afghan refugees respectfully.

Following more than a century of rifts over the Helmand River in Afghanistan (also known as Hirmand) water supply, Iran and Afghanistan signed the 1973 treaty, which established a means of regulating each country’s use of the river.

Iran should receive an annual share of 820 million cubic meters from Hirmand under the accord, which Afghanistan has grossly violated in letter and spirit, endangering the lives of many Iranians who rely on Hamoun wetlands for drinking water, agriculture, and fishing.

Afghanistan has also built dams on the Hirmand which have constricted the water flow into Iran.

Taliban must stand committed to 1973 Hirmand River water treaty with Iran: Envoy

Iran’s special representative for Afghanistan calls upon the Taliban government to adhere to the terms of a major water treaty signed between the two countries in 1973.

Pointing to the historical, religious, and economic relations between Tehran and Kabul, Araghchi said, “Iran’s security and stability are dependent on the security and stability of Afghanistan.”

The top Iranian diplomat stressed the importance of bolstering cooperation with the "Islamic Emirate" given the recent developments.

He hailed the establishment of comprehensive security in Afghanistan after four decades and noted that Tehran and Kabul enjoy consolidated ties.

Akhund, for his part, called for an increase in the exchange of visits among the two countries’ officials to expand diplomatic, political, and economic relations between the two Muslim and brotherly countries.

In a meeting with his acting counterpart in the Taliban-ruled government in Afghanistan, Amir Khan Muttaqi, earlier in the day, the Iranian foreign minister lauded neighborly relations between Tehran and Kabul, calling for the expansion of economic ties to secure the national interests of the two Muslim countries.

Heading a high-ranking delegation, Araghchi arrived in Kabul on Sunday on a one-day trip to the eastern neighbor — the first visit by an Iranian foreign minister to Afghanistan after the Taliban took power in 2021.

Afghanistan is still reeling from a decades-long US occupation and its hasty withdrawal which resulted in the country’s lightning takeover by the Taliban.

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