Politics
Afghanistan’s water crisis goes regional
Over four decades of war, Afghanistan wielded limited control over five major river basins that flow across its borders into downstream neighbouring nations.
But as Taliban authorities swept to power and tightened their grip on the country, they have pushed for Afghanistan’s water sovereignty, launching infrastructure projects to harness precious resources in the arid territory.
Dams and canals have sparked tensions with neighbouring states, testing the Taliban government’s efforts to build strong regional ties, as they remain largely isolated on the global stage since their 2021 takeover.
At the same time, the region is facing the shared impacts of climate change intensifying water scarcity, as temperatures rise and precipitation patterns shift, threatening glaciers and snowpack that feed the country’s rivers.
Here are key points about Afghanistan’s transboundary water challenges:
Central Asian states to the north
Afghanistan is emerging as a new player in often fraught negotiations on the use of the Amu Darya, one of two key rivers crucial for crops in water-stressed Central Asia, where water sharing relies on fragile accords since Soviet times.
Central Asian states have expressed concern over the Qosh Tepa mega canal project that could divert up to 21% of the Amu Darya’s total flow to irrigate 560,000 hectares of land across Afghanistan’s arid north, and further deplete the Aral Sea.
Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan are likely to face the biggest impact, both joined by Kazakhstan in voicing alarm, even as they deepen diplomatic ties with the Taliban authorities — officially recognised so far by only Russia.
“No matter how friendly the tone is now,” water governance expert Mohd Faizee warned, “at some point there will be consequences for Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan when the canal starts operating”.
Taliban officials have denied that the project will have a major impact on the Amu Darya’s water levels and pledged it will improve food security in a country heavily dependent on climate-vulnerable agriculture and facing one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.
“There is an abundance of water, especially when the Amu Darya floods and glacial meltwater flows into it” in the warmer months, said project manager Sayed Zabihullah Miri, during a visit to the canal works in Faryab province, where diggers carved into a drought-ridden plain dotted with camels and locusts.
Iran to the west
Iran is the only country with which Afghanistan has a formal water sharing treaty, agreed in 1973 over the Helmand river, which traverses Taliban heartland territory, but the accord was never fully implemented.
Longstanding tensions over the river’s resources have spiked over dams in southern Afghanistan, particularly in periods of drought, which are likely to increase as climate shocks hit the region’s water cycle.
Iran, facing pressure in its parched southeastern region, has repeatedly demanded that Afghanistan respect its rights, charging that upstream dams restrict the Helmand’s flow into a border lake.
The Taliban authorities insist there is not enough water to release more to Iran, blaming the impact of climate pressures on the whole region.
They also argue long-term poor water management has meant Afghanistan has not gotten its full share, according to an Afghanistan Analysts Network report by water resources management expert Assem Mayar.
Iran and Afghanistan have no formal agreement over their other shared river basin, the Harirud, which also flows into Turkmenistan and is often combined into a single basin with the Morghab river.
While infrastructure exists on the Afghan portions of the basin, some has not been fully utilised, Faizee said.
But that could change, he added, as the end of conflict in Afghanistan means infrastructure works don’t incur vast security costs on top of construction budgets, lifting a barrier to development of projects such as the Pashdan dam inaugurated in August on the Harirud.
Pakistan to the east
Water resources have not topped the agenda in consistently fraught relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Afghanistan’s Kabul river basin, which encompasses tributaries to the greater Indus basin and feeds the capital and largest city, is shared with Pakistan.
The countries, however, have no formal cooperation mechanism.
With the Afghan capital wracked by a severe water crisis, the Taliban authorities have sought to revitalise old projects and start new ones to tackle the problem, risking fresh tensions with Pakistan.
But the lack of funds and technical capacity means the Taliban authorities’ large water infrastructure projects across the country could take many years to come to fruition — time that could be good for diplomacy, but bad for ordinary Afghans.
The Iranian armed forces have started a new wave of extensive drone and missile attacks on targets in the Israeli-occupied territories and US assets in regional countries.
A late Monday statement from the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) said that the 11th wave of offensive attacks under Operation True Promise 4 had been launched by the naval and aerospace units of the elite force.
The statement said the “extensive and high-density operation” had targeted American intelligence centers and military support warehouses in the Persian Gulf region, the Israeli communications industries complex in the occupied city of Beersheba, as well as 20 locations in the occupied regions of Tel Aviv, West al-Quds, and Galilee.
It said the “brave sons of Iran’s armed forces” had used more than 700 drones and hundreds of missiles to hit 60 strategic targets and 500 military locations linked to the United States and the Israeli regime since the start of the US-Israeli aggression on Iran on Saturday.
The statement said the number of missiles and drones and the success rate of the attacks had far outpaced records seen during the 12-day war with Israel and the US in June 2025.
The IRGC said recent “brutal and terrorist” attacks on Iran that targeted citizens in hospitals, schools, and offices of the national media service (IRIB) had further strengthened their resolve and determination to pursue an all-out war against the enemies.
The IRGC has been carrying out retaliatory attacks on US military assets across the region and on targets in the Israeli-occupied territories since Saturday, when the US and Israel started the unprovoked war of aggression against Iran and assassinated Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei.
The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) says the fate of Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu is uncertain following “purposeful and surprise” attacks on his office and the residence of the regime’s air force commander.
In a statement on Monday, the IRGC said Iranian Armed Forces heavily attacked the office of Israel’s criminal prime minister and the residence of commander of the Israeli air force.
They were hit during “purposeful and surprise” attacks by Kheybar missiles, the elite force stated.
According to the statement, the 10th phase of Iran’s successful missile attacks on occupied territories focuses on the Israeli regime’s premises.
The IRGC said it would later announce the achievements of the attacks and provide further information.
The United States and Israel launched a joint war of aggression against Iran early on Saturday, assassinating Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei and several senior military commanders before attacking military and civilian sites across the country.
Iranian armed forces have responded with massive missile and drone strikes, hitting strategic targets deep inside the Israeli-occupied territories as well as American military bases scattered across the region.
Iranian authorities say the retaliatory attacks will continue as long as necessary and that it will be the Islamic Republic that will decide when and how the war will end.
- Emirates, flydubai to restart limited flights from today.
- Etihad Airways announces resuming flights on Tuesday.
- Iran strikes targeted Gulf airports, airspace remains restricted.
Dubai Airports said “limited” flights would resume on Monday evening, three days after they were cancelled as Iran began striking targets in the Gulf, including Dubai and Abu Dhabi airports.
Global air travel remained in severe disarray since Sunday as sustained air strikes forced the closure of major Middle Eastern airports, including Dubai — the world’s busiest international transit hub — in one of the most significant aviation disruptions in recent years.
Transit gateways such as Dubai and Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, as well as Doha in Qatar, were either shut down or operating under heavy restrictions, with large sections of regional airspace closed.
The disruption followed US and Israeli strikes that reportedly killed Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Saturday, plunging the Gulf into heightened uncertainty.
A fresh wave of attacks extended into a third consecutive day, deepening concerns over regional stability and prolonging the paralysis of air traffic.
“Dubai Airports announces a limited resumption of flights from Dubai International Airport (DXB) and Dubai World Central – Al Maktoum International Airport (DWC) starting this evening, Monday, March 2, 2026,” it said in a statement.
Emirates and low-cost carrier flydubai both said they would resume some flights on Monday evening.
In a post on X, Emirates, one of the UAE’s flag carriers, said it would prioritise passengers with existing bookings. Travellers rebooked on the limited services will be contacted directly by Emirates.
All other flights remain suspended until further notice, the airline said, urging passengers not to travel to the airport unless formally notified. It added that operations will be adjusted in line with developments on the ground.
Eihad Airways, which operates flights from Abu Dhabi, said it would resume flights on Tuesday.
Iran’s unprecedented bombardment in the Gulf states has hit military bases but also civilian infrastructure such as residential buildings, hotels, airports and sea ports, rattling a region long seen as a refuge from Middle East conflict.
Since Iran launched its campaign on Saturday, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Kuwait and Manama airports were targeted.
Authorities reported one death in the Emirati capital Abu Dhabi in the “incident” at the facility.
On Saturday, the UAE announced it had closed its airspace “temporarily and partially” as an exceptional precautionary measure.
Dubai’s main airport (DXB) ranks as the second-busiest worldwide, behind Atlanta in the United States, according to Airports Council International.
The airspace closures hit a vital sector for the city, with Dubai’s air industry accounting for about a third of the emirate’s economy.
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