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Iran threatens 'pressure' on Taliban amid deepening water row

The warning marked the most serious episode in Iran-Taliban ties since the extremist group's takeover of Afghanistan in 2021. 

An Afghani policeman looks out to the horizon while on patrol in the mountains surrounding the Helmand River valley in Afghanistan on Feb. 24, 2006.
An Afghani policeman looks out to the horizon while on patrol in the mountains surrounding the Helmand River valley in Afghanistan on Feb. 24, 2006. — Cathal McNaughton/AFP via Getty Images

TEHRAN — Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said the Islamic Republic will resort to pressure if necessary against the ruling Taliban establishment in Afghanistan should it fail to provide Iran with its share of a lifeline border water supply, Tasnim news agency reported on Thursday.  

Amir-Abdollahian cited Afghanistan's commitments under a 1973 agreement, which obligates Kabul to secure an annual 820 million cubic meters of water from the shared Helmand River.  

Iran has repeatedly complained that it is receiving only 4% of the agreed amount, which it expects to flow in the transboundary Hamoun basin.  

Taliban authorities, however, have stated that the water supply behind the key Kajaki dam is fast diminishing, an argument upon which Amir-Abdollahian appeared to be casting doubt.  

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