"Afghanistan did not allow Iran to visit Kajaki Dam"

Mohammad Javanbakht made the remarks in a press conference on Monday. 

Raecting to the media reports about the Iranian delegation's visit to Helmand River, he said, with the help of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, permission was finally given to the Iranian technical team to visit the water measuring station upstream of the Kajaki Dam.

The Kajaki Dam is "an earth and rockfill embankment type dam" located on the Hirmand/Helmand River in the Kajaki District of Helmand Province in Afghanistan, about 161 km northwest of Kandahar.

"During the visit, the Iranian technical team observed that the water is flowing to the side of the Kajaki Dam," he added. 

In the treaty between Iran and Afghanistan, it is specified that Iran's share is 820 million cubic meters annually, he said, adding that in the last few years, water has not been released to to flow towards Iran.

The Afghans argue that it is due to drought, he further said. 

According to Javanbakht, although the visit took place, it cannot assure Iran because the rainfall and the water level are different in different months of the year.

Stating that Iran requested to visit the Kajaki Dam, the Iranian deputy minister said that during the trip, the Afghan authorities did not allow the Iranian technical team to visit the reservoir of the Kajaki Dam, which is known to have adequate water reserves in previously released satellite images. 

Earlier on Sunday, Iranian Ambassador to Kabul Hassan Kazemi Qomi said that Iranian experts have visited Afghanistan's Deh Ravod for the first time to resolve the issue of securing the country's water rights from the Hirmand/Helmand River.

SKH/5861221