IEA ‘behaving better’ than Ashraf Ghani over water rights: Iran’s FM

Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian has said that the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) is dealing with the water rights issue a lot better than former president Ashraf Ghani did.

“We will not forget what statement the then president of Afghanistan Ashraf Ghani used while inaugurating the Kajaki Dam, but the ruling body of Afghanistan clearly stated many times that it adheres to the treaty,” Amir Abdullahian said in an interview with Iran’s Ettela’at newspaper.

Ghani once said that Afghanistan would give water to Iran in exchange for fuel.

Iran’s foreign minister said that the visit of Iran’s technical delegation to Afghanistan was a good step on Afghanistan’s part, “but it was too late.”

He said that Tehran expects the IEA to give Iran its share of water when there is no drought.

He said that Tehran’s expectation from the IEA is that cooperation will continue with the presence of the technical delegation “to a level where there is a common understanding between us and our public opinion should be such that if the water does not come this year, it is not rooted in bad promises and non-implementation of the treaty.”

In the interview, Amir Abdollahian also reiterated the call for the establishment of an inclusive government in Afghanistan with the participation of all ethnic groups.