Iran Press/ Iran News: Following the order by Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi regarding the follow-up of the issue of Iran's water rights in Hirmand, the country's Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian had a telephone converstion with Afghanistan's Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs, Amir Khan Motaghi, on Thursday night.
President Raisi, in the cabinet meeting, tasked the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and the Energy to pursue Iran's water rights from the Hirmand River and said that the administration would seriously pursue the nation's rights in any way.
In his telephone call with Amir Khan Motaghi, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Iran called for the serious cooperation of the governing body of Afghanistan to resolve the issue of Iran's water rights from Hirmand.
Referring to the recent rains and water flowing in the Hirmand River, Amir-Abdollahian expressed hope that there would be no artificial obstacles to water reaching the Islamic Republic of Iran and securing Iran's water rights.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs said: "Handing over Iran's water rights is an important indicator for measuring the commitments of the governing body of Afghanistan in fulfilling its international obligations towards Iran."
Referring to the serious demand of the people and representatives of Sistan and Baluchistan in the Parliament from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Amir-Abdollahian added: "If the issue of Iran's water rights from Hirmand is not resolved quickly and seriously, it will have negative effects in other areas of cooperation between the two countries."
The Minister of Foreign Affairs stated: "Soon, a high-ranking delegation from Iran's Ministry of Energy will leave for this country to investigate and remove existing obstacles and consult with Afghan authorities regarding water rights."
According to the report, Minister of Energy Ali Akbar Mehrabian, on Wednesday, on the sidelines of the cabinet meeting, pointed out the importance of water diplomacy and noted that he would travel to Afghanistan to realize Hirmand's water rights.
Earlier, Saeed Khatibzadeh, the former spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told reporters in March in a weekly presser: "Water rights are a contract between Iran and Afghanistan that has existed for years and Iran is trying to be a reasonable and stable sovereign state in the region to solve all the issues and points of dispute through the mutual agreement of the parties and dialogue and diplomatic ways, and this issue has been raised many times with the ruling body of Afghanistan."
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In another part of his telephone call with Amir Khan Motaghi, Amir-Abdollahian also mentioned the interest of the private sector activists of the Islamic Republic of Iran to participate in the Afghan economy and stated: "Iran supports the presence and activity of its private sector in Afghanistan and at the same time expects the Afghan authorities to also paying attention to the importance of private sector activities in Afghanistan's economy, and support Iranian economic activists in this country."
For his part, Amir Khan Motaghi, Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs of Afghanistan, described the relations between the two countries as brotherly and a way of helping the Afghan nation.
Welcoming the delegation of the Iranian Ministry of Energy, he said: "We are committed to Iran's water rights. When water is available, we will flow it to Iran."
In response, Amir-Abdollahian said: "We can return the river to its proper channel by forming a joint technical and operational team so that the people on both sides of the border will not be harmed by the wastage of water."
Amir Khan Motaghi mentioned the visit of the delegation of the Ministry of Agriculture of Afghanistan to Tehran and called for the further development of cooperation between the two countries.
Amir Khan Motaghi also assessed the recent Tashkent meeting in Afghanistan.
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