In Iran, protesters attack Afghan trucks in Sistan-Baluchestan over water dispute: Report

Iranians protested in the country's Sistan and Baluchestan province, demanding their rights to water flowing from Afghanistan, local media reported. The security officials in the port intervened when protestors began attacking lorries belonging to Afghans, Khaama Press reported, citing Iranian state media. The rioters allegedly smashed the windows of lorries, according to eyewitnesses, Iranian state media reported.

Meanwhile, another group of Iranian protestors gathered at the Afghan consulate in Zahedan city, demanding that Helmand water be delivered to the country, according to the Khaama Press report. The protests come a year after former Afghan President Ashraf Ghani opened the Kamal Khan hydroelectric dam on the Helmand River, declaring that water will no longer be given to Iran for free, but only in exchange for oil.

According to an Afghan media site, the flow of the Helmand River to Iran has been a source of contention between Afghanistan and Iran for years and has yet to be entirely resolved. Water disputes, that has been a source of contention in Afghan-Iranian relations for decades, is expected to be exacerbated by climate change. The economic situation in Afghanistan may make dispute resolution even more difficult.

Iran-Afghanistan relationship

Iran has a lot riding on the Taliban's reign in Afghanistan, and Tehran is keen to work closely with Kabul's new leadership. Amir Khan Muttaqi, the Taliban's Foreign Minister, conducted his first visit to the Islamic Republic of Iran on January 9. Muttaqi and his group met with Iran's top diplomat, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, in Tehran to discuss critical matters. 

Tehran has a variety of interests in Afghanistan, including refugee flows, environmental concerns, terrorist threats, narcotics trafficking, and the status of Shia Muslims and other minority groups. Without some form of cooperation with the Taliban, Tehran would have a hard time furthering its interests in post-US Afghanistan, according to various media reports.

Years before the conclusion of the US involvement of Afghanistan in 2021, Iran's leadership was realistic about the Taliban's chances of retaining some control after NATO soldiers left. As a result, Tehran reached out to the Taliban and began planning for a future in which it would be essential to collaborate with the group that had previously ruled Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001.

Notably, after the Taliban delegation arrived in Iran for talks earlier this month, Afghanistan reportedly released water behind the Kamal Khan Dam to flow and reach the southern province of Sistan-Baluchestan. This demonstrated the advantages of engaging the Taliban diplomatically for Iran, local media reported.

(With inputs from agencies, Image: AP)