Fada Hossein Maleki, a member of the Iranian Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, has urged President Massoud Pezeshkian to reassess Iran’s relationship with the Taliban, stating that the group is not trustworthy.

Speaking at a meeting with Massoud Pezeshkian, Maleki expressed concerns regarding the Taliban’s conduct, specifically their refusal to honour Iran’s water rights from the Hirmand River, which has led to severe drought and posed significant challenges for the people of the region. “We have repeatedly warned that the Taliban, just as they have withheld the Hirmand water rights, will prove unreliable in other matters as well,” Maleki said.

Maleki further criticised the Taliban’s characterisation of natural floods as fulfilling Iran’s water rights obligations.

He stressed the need for the Islamic Republic to seriously reconsider its relations with the Taliban, given their actions.

In May 2023, Abdul Latif Mansour, the Taliban’s Minister of Energy and Water, in a meeting with Hassan Mortazavi, the Deputy Ambassador of the Islamic Republic in Kabul, asserted that a significant portion of Iran’s water rights had been fulfilled and that the release of water would continue. Mortazavi expressed hope that resolving the water issue could foster greater cooperation between Iran and the Taliban.

Hassan Kazemi Qomi, the Iranian President’s special envoy for Afghanistan, had previously stated that technical obstacles to the allocation of Iran’s water rights by the Taliban had been addressed.