An Iranian daily has accused Afghanistan’s Taliban authorities of cutting off a key source of drinking water to the northeastern city of Mashhad, warning that the move underscores hostile policies toward Iran.
According to Jomhouri-e Eslami newspaper, the recently completed Pashdan Dam in Afghanistan’s Herat province has diverted the flow of the Harirud River, leaving Iran’s Doosti Dam, located near the border with Turkmenistan, at critically low levels. The dam is considered Mashhad’s most important source of drinking water.
The report stated that Doosti Dam now contains only half the volume of last year and has reached its “dead storage level,” largely due to Pashdan’s water intake.
This marks the second major dispute over transboundary rivers between Tehran and Kabul, following the Taliban’s refusal to release Iran’s allocated share of the Helmand River under a 1973 treaty.
The newspaper accused the Taliban of acting with “deliberate hostility” and criticized Iranian officials for a weak response, urging stronger political and economic measures.
It also linked the dispute to broader tensions over the mass expulsion of illegal Afghan migrants in Iran, describing the situation as a security challenge.