The drying up of the Hamon wetland will affect the people of Iran and Afghanistan equally
This meeting took place while the Afghan delegation had traveled to Iran for economic negotiations, but the Environmental Protection Organization’s follow-up brought the two countries to negotiate together to reduce the sufferings of the people on their sides of the border.
At the beginning of this meeting, Vice President and Head of the Environmental Protection Organization, Ali Selajgeh, while welcoming brother Abdul Ghani’s gathering and emphasizing the brotherly and unbreakable relations between the two Muslim countries of Iran and Afghanistan, said: the border of about 960 kilometers between the two countries does not mean a line. A border that separates nations is also a border of brotherhood, equality, peace and friendship. Although the enemies don’t show this friendship and brotherhood and try to create problems between us, the intelligence of the leaders and peoples of the two countries has always neutralized the conspiracies of the ill-wishers.
He continued: The country of the Islamic Republic of Iran, The supreme leader and our honorable president have always considered the sufferings of Afghanistan as a tragedy for them, and the pride of our friend and brother Afghanistan is a source of hope for us and one of our hopes and dreams.
The Vice President emphasized: I hope that the experience that the Afghan people gained from the hatred and enmity of the United States and its allies such as the Zionist usurping regime will be an achievement so that we do not allow these countries to destroy our bond of brotherhood and never forget that our friend and Who is our enemy? We have many cultural and religious roots with your country, and our nation and yours have been together in sorrows and joys, and this practice should continue and be a major policy for both countries.
The head of the Environmental Protection Organization stated: If there is even the slightest disruption in the relations between the two countries, the enemy will infiltrate from the same point and try to damage our relations. We know Afghanistan and the talents of its people very well, and the capabilities of your manpower are well known to us. Therefore, we would like these talents to be at the disposal of your country and the people of Afghanistan should contribute to the prosperity of their country before any other country.
Selajqa emphasized: Afghan immigrants who are in our country are our friends and brothers, and those who have ID, like Iranians, use many services in our country, and we are looking to organize them. I hope the situation in Afghanistan will stabilize soon and all these people can return to their country and provide their services where they really belong.
He stated: All the economic capacities of Iran, including investments, the capacity of commercial and knowledge-based companies, technical and engineering services for the development of infrastructure, etc., can be provided to the country of Afghanistan to use these capacities efficiently. Our main goal is to empower the people of Afghanistan and we want you to use your human resources for the welfare of the people.
The head of the Environmental Protection Organization considered the issue of the environment and especially the restoration of the Hamon wetland as one of the essential axes of cooperation between the two countries and said: Just like when there is an earthquake and your people suffer, Iran is the first country to volunteer to help Afghanistan. It is possible and we feel that we should immediately help our brothers in Afghanistan with all our power, it is expected that you will also help us in times of trouble.
Selajgeh added: One of the problems that has plagued our people these days is the issue of dust in the city of Zabul and our province of Sistan and Baluchistan, which has caused our economy to be severely affected and also harmed your economy. As you know, the environment knows no borders and is not an issue related to one country, and parameters such as dust, wildlife, etc. are discussions that are related to all countries. These days, climate change has also severely affected the countries of our region, and we must help each other to deal with it.
He added: Just as the earthquake in Herat created problems for your people, the dust in Zabul has severely affected people’s lives and has become one of their main problems, and I hope we can solve this problem with each other’s help. let’s solve The dust rises from the dried Hamon lake and comes from the direction of Zabul according to the direction of the prevailing wind which is from northwest to southeast and it completely affects your Zaranj region and the economy and livelihood of our people and you with has encountered a problem.
The vice president stated: Dust is currently a disaster for the people of Zabul and has caused our people to suffer. The drying up of the Hamon wetland has affected the economy of the people of the region, whose jobs are fishing, recreation and tourism, and the economy in general depends on the wetland. This issue has affected and disrupted the economy of your people in Zaranj and other villages and surrounding cities.
Selajgeh stated: This problem has caused serious problems for our border residents and you, and I observed during my trip to this province last week that the people of the region are under the most severe dust bombardment for 180 days. I am sure that your Excellency and your people do not want their brothers in Zabul to deal with this problem.
He emphasized: In this discussion, we can have a joint plan and project to control the dust collection areas in the friendly and brotherly country of Afghanistan. In these two years, we had two big international meetings for dust, one with the presence of regional countries and one with the presence of 50 countries and 16 international agencies. Fortunately, in these meetings, we realized that there is a good convergence both at the regional level and at the global level to deal with dust.
The head of the Environmental Protection Organization stated: The environmental cooperation between us and Afghanistan, which unfortunately the enemy wants to prevent this from happening, can be a good model for the cooperation between the two countries and to solve the problems of the people on both sides of the border. We are ready for this work and we have prepared a plan under the title of the sub-regional operational plan for the east and southeast of the country and we hope to be able to implement our plan with the cooperation of the countries of the region and especially the country of Afghanistan.
Selajgeh continued: We estimated in this map that 15 million tons of dust comes from the centers of Afghanistan every year and affects Zabol and Zaranj region.
One of the main effects of dust is disrupting the economy and livelihood of people on both sides of the border, in such a way that the Sistan Plain, which was known as Iran’s grain store in the past, has now become a plain that is the only source of dust collection and causing problems. Has become.
The vice president said: I consider your approach and your emphasis on the relationship between the nations of the two countries at all levels to be positive, and I hope that this cooperation will happen without the eyes of all the enemies of the two countries and that the problems of the sides between the borders will be solved. We are fully ready to form a joint working group whenever you announce your readiness so that we can cooperate on environmental issues and solve the economic and social problems of the people of the two countries.
Selajgeh added: We have done all the comprehensive studies and prepared the maps, and when you announce your readiness, this working group will be formed and we will start to identify dust collection points and stabilize them in a field and operational manner. At present, the Hamun wetland needs a humidification according to the climatic conditions, that is, before we reach the glorious conditions it had in the past and was the place of livelihood and prosperity of the people’s economy, in the current situation where our people are involved in thick dust for 180 days. There is a need to release the water so that Hamon is moistened and no longer a source of dust, which is for the benefit of the people of both countries in your province of Nimroz and ours in Zabul.
He considered environmental security to be the infrastructure of all security and stated: In addition to all the commonalities we have, issues related to the environment are one of our main commonalities, and we must work together to save the people of our countries from this suffering in the field of environment. Life has noticed them, let’s save them.
In the end, the vice president noted: As we are with the people of Afghanistan in all their sufferings, we hope that you will also help us in solving this problem.
As soon as Hirmand is filled with water, we will release Iran’s claim
Following this meeting, Mollah Baradar Abdul Ghani also stated: We hope that our negotiations with your country will proceed in the best way and have favorable results for the people of both countries. This is a sign of your country’s brotherhood and kindness to Afghanistan that, without any request, the relief forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran have been present in our country during the earthquake and are helping our people.
He continued: We are grateful to the Islamic Republic of Iran and we will not forget your kindness. The Islamic Republic of Iran has always been with our people and we have felt this support with all our heart. Now we have come to Iran to follow up the joint working committees and we hope that these working committees will have favorable results and we will return to Afghanistan with full hands.
The Deputy Prime Minister of the Taliban stated: We have written plans regarding Afghan immigrants so that whenever our economic conditions are met, we will return them to our country and remove this heavy burden from the shoulders of the Iranian government and people.
Referring to the 22-year presence of America in Afghanistan, Abdul Ghani Baradar said: America’s presence hurt us and when we defeated America and took over the country, there was no infrastructure in our country and we did not get any economic benefit from their presence. When the Americans left Afghanistan, they even deliberately destroyed the planes that were in our airports. These were assets of Afghanistan, but they destroyed them so that our government could not use them. The Americans blocked our money in the accounts so that we could not use it. The purpose of all these activities was to face the Islamic Emirate with economic stagnation, but Alhamdulillah we were able to rebuild our economy.
In response to Selajqa’s request to form joint environmental committees and release water to Hamon, he said: We have a national environmental protection department in Afghanistan and we agree to send the officials of this department to your service in Iran at the earliest opportunity. cooperate with you in this regard. We also welcome the presence of our delegation in your country and cooperation in the field of environmental issues, especially dust.
Regarding the release of water, Abdul Ghani Baradar explained: “If it is water, we are also looking to release Iran’s claim and there is no reason to refuse to do so.” Now our country is suffering from drought and this drought has caused our drought. When the rains are good, the water will be released and Hamon will be filled with water again.
He continued: A large number of our people in Nimroz state, in the city of Zaranj and its surrounding cities were forced to migrate due to this severe drought. Currently, there is no water in this area, and for this reason, it is not possible for the road to survive.