Iraq’s decision to file a lawsuit with the International Court of Justice against Iran over blocking the outflow of water from border rivers carries no legal weight, the head of the Energy Ministry’s Department of Border Rivers and Joint Water Resources said.
“Iran has been, is and will be committed to respecting neighbors’ water rights, so filing a suit against Tehran with the world court and bringing groundless accusations against it will make things more complicated,” IRNA also quoted Jabbar Vatanfada as saying.
Iran is ready to settle the conflict based on the terms of the 1975 Algiers Agreement, which has clearly specified border lines between the two nations, he added.
The official noted that Iraq’s Minister of Water Resources Mahdi Rashid Al Hamdani has also told us that the terms of the treaty are still valid.
The two neighbors need to tackle the issue via negotiations, and putting forward baseless claims and false accusations does not allow the two sides to solve the problem through diplomatic channels.
The two countries agreed last year to conduct a joint comprehensive survey on how to share trans-boundary water resources based on the 1975 Algiers Agreement. Nonetheless, Iraqis rejected to do their fair share based on some irrational and unacceptable reasons and threatened to sue Iran.
According to Vatanfada, the drastic decline of water flowing to the Tigris and Euphrates rivers has adversely affected both countries, and Turkey should be blamed for this tragedy as it has built numerous dams on the rivers.
Arvand River is the only water source that flows from Iran to Iraq; the water of the dams on the Karoun River is not even given to the people of Khuzestan, as the dam’s water level is depleting.
Arvand Water Level
Iraq’s problem pertains to the Tigris and Euphrates rivers that originate from Turkey that has built dams on both rivers. This and Iraq's plan to increase water supply from the two rivers have decreased water level in Arvand. The Hawizeh Marshes are also drying up on the Iranian side.
The inflow of water to Iraq from Turkey and Iran, as well as water pollution in the cities through which it passes, has fueled border disputes, increased water salinity and destroyed acres of fertile agricultural land.
The diversion of rivers and digging of canals, especially the Bahmanshir canal near the Shatt-al-Arab have caused the Thalweg line, which specifies the border between Iran and Iraq, to be extended to around 2 kilometers toward Iraq.
The Iranian official said if Iraq has planned to go to international authorities for Iran’s noncompliance with water rights, it ought to sue Turkey, which has built many dams in its country without coordination with neighboring countries and does not allow water to flow into the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.
Stressing that other neighboring countries have long violated Iran’s water rights, Vatanfada noted that Afghanistan’s excuses not to release Iran’s fair share of joint water resources are not acceptable and Iran is still hopeful that the matter can be resolved diplomatically.
“The issue is being pursued through various diplomatic channels, including talks held during the Joint Committee of Hirmand Water Commissioners meetings,” he added.
Iran has not received its fair share of water from Hirmand River (known as Helmand in Afghanistan) since the beginning of the current water year that started last September, he added.
Afghanistan’s water officials opened discharge valves at the Kamal Khan Dam on Helmand River in January and water was expected to flow into three big reservoirs in Sistan Plain called Chah-Nimeh in Iran’s Sistan-Baluchestan Province, but later Afghanistan announced that it had opened the gates not to send the Helmand’s waters across the border to reach Iran, but to irrigate agricultural land in areas surrounding the dam.
“As per the treaty, Iran should have received at least 50 million cubic meters of water by now, but it has not and Afghan officials argue that the river carrying the dam water has not been dredged for years, so water cannot flow into it!” he said.
Unjustified Excuses
According to Vatanfada, such excuses are not justifiable, but Iran is still hopeful that diplomatic efforts could work.
“Given the fact that the Islamic Republic of Iran has generously helped the people of Afghanistan in several areas over the past 40 years, we expect the country to take Iran’s legitimate and legal demands into consideration,” he added.
Sistan-Baluchestan is the second largest province of Iran, bordering Afghanistan and Pakistan. The region has been struggling with severe water shortages for two decades, as rainfall averages a meager 105 mm.
More than 50% of the people of the province live in rural areas. But that is fast changing, as they are abandoning their homes and villages, and moving to other parts of the country in search of work and a better life.
Water from Helmand River in principle is shared under a 1973 treaty, which assigned Iran 800 million cubic meters of water a year. But with Afghanistan embroiled in foreign military invasions, domestic violence of terror syndicates, political infighting and civil strife for the past decades, the water supply has remained wildly erratic.
