A border clash between Iran and Afghanistan has left three people dead amid a long-running water dispute between the two countries.
At least two Iranian border guards were killed in Saturday’s six-hour fight while one Taliban soldier died, according to The New York Times.
A video posted to Twitter showed what purported to be a Taliban commander saying the Taliban was chomping at the bit to attack Iran.
The video quoted Taliban commander Abdul Hamid as saying Taliban fighters “will conquer Iran within 24 hours.”
If we get the order, we “will conquer Iran within 24 hours,” says Taliban commander Abdul Hamid. “Iran is flirting with the West. In reality, Iran has teamed up with the West. Iran should know that if they cross our red lines, we will erase them from the map of the Earth.” pic.twitter.com/LQhy8TQWiw
— Mike (@Doranimated) May 27, 2023
“Iran is flirting with the West. In reality, Iran has teamed up with the West. Iran should know that if they cross our red lines, we will erase them from the map of the Earth,” he said in the video, according to a translation in the tweet.
Iran blamed Afghan forces for starting the fight, according to Reuters.
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“Without observing international laws and good neighborliness, Taliban forces started shooting at the Sasoli checkpoint … drawing a decisive response,” the official Iranian news agency reported.
Iran’s border guards “used their superior heavy fire to inflict casualties and serious damage,” the news agency reported.
🚨🇦🇫🇮🇷Taliban moves troops, and heavy weaponry to the border with Iran, warns to capture Tehran within days, if Iran does not stop the provocations. pic.twitter.com/25zN5fm9ut
— Terror Alarm (@Terror_Alarm) May 27, 2023
The Taliban saw things differently.
“Today, in Nimroz province, Iranian border forces fired toward Afghanistan, which was met with a counter-reaction,” a representative of the Taliban’s interior ministry said in a statement.
“The situation is under control now. The Islamic Emirate does not want to fight with its neighbors,” the representative said.
🚨🇦🇫In a new music video, the Ministry of Defense of Afghanistan warns Iran against provocations and threatens that #Taliban Mujahidin will capture and clean Tehran from infidel Shia leaders and turn the country into a moderate Sunni Muslim country. pic.twitter.com/WQhuX5RTgo
— Terror Alarm (@Terror_Alarm) May 28, 2023
The scrape came amid a dispute between the two nations over water from the Helmand River,
Iran claims that Afghanistan is not keeping to the terms of a 1973 treaty and is limiting the flow of water to the eastern parts of Iran.
The Times report noted that during the 1940s and 1950s, Afghan governments built dams along the river, giving it the power to limit what Iran can receive.
