Iran and the Taliban exchanged gunfire on Saturday along their shared border, killing and wounding troops in the latest escalation of tensions between the two countries.
Iran's state-run IRNA news agency quoted the country's deputy police chief, Gen. Qassem Rezaei, as accusing the Taliban of opening fire first on the border of Iran's Sistan and Baluchestan province and the Afghan province of Nimroz. IRNA said Iran inflicted "heavy casualties and serious damage."
The Taliban, however, denied that it had opened fire first. Afghan Interior Ministry spokesman Abdul Nafi Takor accused Iran of shooting first. Takor said the firefight killed two people, one from each country, and wounded others. He described the situation as now being under control.
The fighting comes as Iran has been warning the Taliban not to violate its water rights to the Helmand River. Drought has been a problem in Iran for some 30 years, but has worsened over the past decade. The Iran Meteorological Organization says that an estimated 97% of the country now faces some level of drought.
The Taliban seized Afghanistan in August 2021 as U.S. and NATO troops were in the final weeks of their pullout from the country after 20 years of war. In the time since, Afghanistan has become the most repressive in the world for women and girls, depriving them of virtually all their basic rights, according to the U.N. Hunger remains endemic.
While not directly accepting the Taliban government, Iran has maintained relations with Afghanistan's new rulers. Tehran also has called on the Taliban to allow women and girls to go to school.
Earlier on Saturday, the Taliban's Acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi met with an Iranian envoy to Afghanistan to discuss the Helmand River water rights, according to tweets from Afghan Foreign Ministry official Zia Ahmad. IRNA acknowledged the meeting, saying “that issues between the two countries will be better resolved through dialogue.”
However, tensions have otherwise been rising. Another video posted online in recent days purportedly showed a standoff with Iranian forces and the Taliban as Iranian construction workers tried to reinforce the border between the two countries.
In recent days, pro-Taliban accounts online also have been sharing a video with a song calling on the acting defense minister, Mullah Mohammad Yaqoob, to stand up to Iran. Mullah Yaqoob is the son of Mullah Mohammad Omar, the Taliban's late founder and first supreme leader.
“We are a government, we have power,” the song goes. “Our leader Mullah Yaqoob will stand against Iran or we are not the republic’s government. We are not slaves, our leader Mullah Yaqoob will stand against Iran.”
The fighting on Saturday is a reminder of the deep mistrust and tensions that exist between Iran and the Taliban. It is unclear how the two sides will resolve their differences, but the fighting is a worrying sign that the situation could deteriorate further.
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