Iran protests against Afghan dam project

TEHRAN: Iran’s foreign ministry said on Friday that an upstream dam being built by Afghanistan on Harirud river restricts water flow and could be in violation of bilateral treaties.

Water rights have long been a source of friction in ties between the two countries, which share a more than 900-kilometre border.

Esmaeil Baqaei, spokesman for Tehran’s foreign ministry, voiced “strong protest and concern over the disproportionate restriction of water entering Iran” due to the Pashdan Dam project. He said in a statement that the Iranian concerns had been communicated “in contact with relevant Afghan authorities”.

“Exploitation of water resources and basins cannot be carried out without respecting Iran’s rights in accordance with bilateral treaties or applicable customary principles and rules, as well as the important principle of good neighbourliness and environmental considerations”, Baqaei added.

Abdul Ghani Baradar, Afghanistan’s deputy prime minister for economic affairs, said in a video statement last month that the Pashdan project was “nearing completion and water storage has commenced”.

According to the video, the dam in Herat province will store approximately 54 million cubic metres of water, irrigate 13,000 hectares of agricultural land and generate two megawatts of electricity.

Published in Dawn, January 4th, 2025