The rising costs of water: dire consequences for Afghans in battle with Iranians | World news | The Guardian
▻http://www.theguardian.com/world/iran-blog/2015/oct/15/afghanistan-iran-herat-water-battle
Where the Hari Rud river bends north to form a natural border between Iran and Afghanistan, a patch of thick forest allows Iranian border police to remain unseen as they observe the activities of the villagers on the other side.
Residents of Kohsan district in Afghanistan’s Herat province say that when they try to collect precious potable water on the barren eastern bank, the Iranian guards open fire. While the provincial government in Herat denied these allegations to Tehran Bureau, Kohsan authorities said that at least ten villagers have been shot dead at this spot on the Hari Rud, which lies at the centre of a simmering conflict over water rights. Repeated efforts to reach Iranian officials in Kabul, Tehran and New York were unsuccessful.
Flowing westwards into Iran before turning north and disappearing in Turkmenistan’s Karakum desert, the Hari Rud is prone to severe seasonal droughts with dire consequences for both Afghans and Iranians. The last time the 1,000-km river completely dried up, in 2000, the second-largest Iranian city of Mashhad suffered severe water shortages and agricultural sector in Iran’s Razavi Khorasan province reported losses of 129bn rials ($4.3m).
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