Iran Protests Afghan Dam Project

Iran’s Foreign Ministry announced on Friday that a dam being built by neighboring Afghanistan on the Harirud River is reducing water flow and may violate bilateral agreements.

Water usage rights have long been a source of tension between the two countries, which share a border of more than 900 kilometers.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei expressed “strong protest and concern over the disproportionate restrictions on water entering Iran” due to the Bashdan Dam project.

In a statement, he noted that Iran’s concerns had been communicated “through engagement with the relevant Afghan authorities.”

He emphasized that “the exploitation of water resources and basins cannot occur without respecting Iran’s rights under bilateral agreements and customary principles, as well as the important principles of good neighborliness and environmental considerations.”

Afghanistan’s Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs, Abdul Ghani Baradar, stated last month that the Bashdan Dam project “is nearing completion and water storage has begun.”

His video statement mentioned that the dam in Herat Province would store about 54 million cubic meters of water, irrigate 13,000 hectares of agricultural land, and generate 2 megawatts of electricity.

In April, Baradar described the dam as a “vital and strategic project” for Herat Province.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry’s statement followed remarks by an Iranian official criticizing the dam’s construction.

Iran’s IRNA news agency quoted Ministry of Energy and Water spokesperson Isa Bozorgzadeh on Monday, who said, “The situation has caused social and environmental problems, particularly impacting the drinking water supply for the holy city of Mashhad.” Mashhad is Iran’s second-largest city, located near the Afghan border in the country’s northeast.

The Harirud River, also known as the Hari River, originates in central Afghanistan’s mountains, flows into Turkmenistan, and runs along Iran’s borders with both countries.

In his statement, Baghaei said Iran expects Afghanistan “to cooperate in ensuring the continued flow of water from border rivers” and to “remove obstacles created along their paths.”

In May 2023, Iran issued a stern warning to Afghan officials regarding another dam project on the Helmand River, stating it violated the water rights of residents in Iran’s drought-stricken Sistan and Baluchestan Province in the country’s southeast.