Iran protests over Afghan water cuts

Iran has protested to the United Nations that Afghanistan is blocking the flow of water to the Hirmand river with serious consequences for local agriculture.

According to the Iranian news agency, Iran said in a letter to the Secretary General, Kofi Annan, that water which used to flow to the Hirmand river in Iran from the Kajaki dam in Afghanistan has been cut.

It said the move had resulted in tremendous damage to regional farmers and had dried up a well-known swamp Hamoon.

The letter called for a resumption of the supply, and warned that Iran might file for reparations. The letter noted that Iran and Afghanistan signed a pact over water supply to the river in 1973.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service