BISHKEK (TCA) — Sharing the waters of trans-boundary rivers is an old problem in Central Asia and now such a conflict is brewing between Iran and Afghanistan over the Kamal Khan Dam project in Afghanistan’s Nimroz province that borders Iran.
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani inaugurated phase 3 of the Kamal Khan Dam project on April 20, saying that the project would change Nimroz and improve the local economy, Afghanistan’s TOLOnews reported.
Upon completion, the dam is expected to generate 10 megawatts of electricity and irrigate 100,000 hectares of agricultural land.
The construction of the Kamal Khan Dam on the Helmand River has caused grave concern in Iran as it could destabilize the situation in its Sistan-Baluchistan province, Sudha Ramachandran wrote in an article published on the Central Asia-Caucasus Analyst (CACI Analyst).
In October 2015, Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif observed that the Kamal Khan Dam would “severely” restrict the Helmand River’s flow into Iran’s Sistan-Baluchistan province.
Sistan-Baluchistan is Iran’s poorest, and also most restive, province. It is the only Sunni majority province in a country that is overwhelmingly Shia. The province has been in the grip of a powerful insurgency for over a decade. By contributing to unemployment, a water crisis here would fuel anger against the state and therefore also the insurgency, Ramachandran wrote.
In order to pressure the Afghan government to halt the building of dams, Iran is said to be encouraging Taliban fighters to sabotage these projects.
However, Afghanistan is said to be reluctant to engage in talks with Iran or Pakistan on the matter.
“As for Iran, its use of the Taliban fighters to pressure Kabul is a recipe for disaster. Not only is this unlikely to halt Afghanistan’s building of dams – it could at best delay projects, not shut them down – but backing the Taliban could also boomerang back on Iran,” the article reads.
In the meantime, in June 2016 Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Afghanistan to inaugurate a $290 million hydroelectric dam, India’s investment which highlighted strengthening ties between the two countries. The 42 megawatt Salma dam is located in Afghanistan’s western Herat province, also bordering Iran.
