KANDAHAR (NNI): Afghan Minister for Housing and Urban Reconstruction, Youssef Pashtun, has said his government had approved the restoration in the flow of Hirmand river for 60 days to Iran and was surprised by the sudden disruption after a recent short flow.
Water from Hirmand river which rises from Hindu Kush mountain in Afghanistan, has developed into a row between the two countries.
The Afghan government temporarily released the water recently, but its immediate disruption triggered protests from Iran.
"The flow of water from Hirmand river for 60 days into Iran is among approvals of the Afghan cabinet, but its sudden disruption is dubious to us," Pashtun said a meeting with Iranian officials in Kandahar, reports IRNA.
He said the water may have been blocked by Afghan farmers who live on the banks of the Hirmand river which cuts through several miles of parched lands before reaching Iran.
Afghanistan's Foreign Minister Dr. Abdullah Abdullah said last month the water was 'unblocked at the request of Iranian President Mohammad Khatami, for only a short period of time, to show the government's goodwill'.
Iran's Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi, in a phone conversation with Afghan President Hamid Karzai recently, stressed the need for Afghanistan to abide by its commitments to let water from Hirmand river flow into Iran.
Under a 1972 accord, Afghanistan is obliged to release at least 26 cubic meters (910 cubic feet) of water a second.
Taliban violated the deal during the 1994-2001 Taliban rule in Afghanistan and blocked the water from flowing into Iran.As a result, Iran's famous Hamoun lake dried up as did other regional pastures, leading to the death of flora and fauna and the perish of cattle and birds in the Sistan and Baluchestan province.'