Hydropolitical analysis of Iran-Afghanistan tensions in the Hirmand River basin with a non-binary material/discourse method

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Department of Political Geography, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran

2 Department of Political Geography, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

3 Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, USA

Abstract

Water constitutes a vital source of power, and its scarcity represents a highly strategic concern with profound implications for the social and economic development of societies—thereby posing a potential threat to their political stability and authority. Among the international rivers whose allocation has generated hydropolitical tensions, the Hirmand (Helmand) River stands out as a central case, representing the most significant factor in the ongoing disputes between Iran and Afghanistan. The shortage of water in shared river basins tends to politicize water resources, transforming environmental scarcity into arenas of political contention. Within this context, hydropolitics provides a conceptual framework for understanding both cooperation and conflict among riparian states, particularly in the pursuit of optimized transboundary water governance. Accordingly, this research adopts the TWINS (Transboundary Waters Interaction Nexus) framework, which approaches cross-border water relations through a constructivist lens, focusing on how identities of friendship and enmity, as well as dynamics of cooperation and conflict, are continually redefined. The central objective of this study is to analyze the hydropolitical relationship between Iran and Afghanistan concerning the Hirmand River through an integrated material–discursive methodology. This dual approach allows us, first, to examine the natural and geographical factors influencing the hydropolitics of the Hirmand, and second, to investigate the discursive practices, narratives, and political techniques that shape perceptions and actions regarding the river. By combining these perspectives, the study seeks to offer a comprehensive and multi-dimensional understanding of the hydropolitical dynamics underlying Iran–Afghanistan relations over the Hirmand River.
 

Keywords

Main Subjects

References

Hydropolitics Association, 2022. 9th World Water Forum, Dakar 2022, Newsletter by Hydropolitics Association, 2020, 34 p.
Agnew, J., 2008. Disputing the nature of the international in political geography, in book: Politics: Critical Essays in Human Geography, New York and London: Routledge.
Agnew, J., 2003. Geopolitics: Re-Visioning World Politics, New York and London: Routledge.
Ahmadi, M., Ghavidel Rahimi, Y. and Darfashi, Kh., 2012. The Impact of Drought on Border Security in Sistan Region from 1998 to 2010, National Conference on Border Cities and Security, Challenges and Approaches, Sistan and Baluchestan University (In Persian)
Ahmadi, S.A., 2004. Hirmand Hydropolitical Survey, Geography Education, v. 19, p. 48-54 (In Persian).
Ahmadi, S.A., Hekmatara, H., Noorali, H. and Campana, M., 2023. The hydropolitics of Upper Karabakh, with emphasis on the border conflicts and wars between Azerbaijan and Armenia. Geo Journal, v. 88, p. 1873-1888, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10708-022-10714-4
Ahmadi, A., Noorali, H., Campana, M. and Barroudi, M., 2024. Analyzing the hydropolitical tensions of the Hirmand/Helmand River through the evaluation of land use changes using the SVM method, Human Geography Research, v. 55(4), p. 225-243 (In Persian).
Ahmadzai, S., 2016. Chapter 17 - Hydropolitics of Afghanistan and Its Future. Transboundary Water Resources in Afghanistan Climate Change and Land-Use Implications, p. 403-419.
Akbari, N., Mashhadi, A. and Kazemi Foroushani, H., 2016. Legal Dimensions of Hirmand Exploitation, Quarterly of Public Law Research, v. 22(68), p. 291-325 (In Persian).
Alaei Taleghani, M., 2017. Geomorphology of Iran, Tehran: Qomes Publishing (In Persian).
Alami, M. and Tayfur, G., 2017. Meteorological Drought Analysis for Lashkargah and Gardandiwal Stations of Hirmand River Basin, Afghanistan. Conference: IWA Regional Symposium on water, wastewater and environment, 22-24 March, 2017, Çesme-Izmir, Turkey.
Allan, J.A., 2001. The Middle East water question. Hydropolitics and the global economy. London: IB Tauris.
Aman, F., 2016. Water Dispute Escalating between Iran and Afghanistan. Atlantic Council, SOUTH ASIA CENTER.
https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Water_Dispute_Escalating_between_Iran_and_Afghanistan_web_0830.pdf
Badiee Azandahi, M., Rahimi Harabadi, S. and Goodarzi Mehr, S., 2011. The Role of Morphological Changes in the Hirmand Border River in Iran-Afghanistan Political Relations, Human Geography Research, v. 78, p. 197-220 (In Persian).
Bandani, H., 2015. Assessment of Alam's dynasty role in the formation of Gold. International Journal of Scientific & Engineering Research, v. 6(5).
Baranyai, G., 2020. European Water Law and Hydropolitics: An Inquiry into the Resilience of Transboundary Water Governance in the European Union. Springer International Publishing.
Bartel, R., Noble, L., Williams, J. and Harris, S., 2018. Water Policy, Imagination and Innovation Interdisciplinary Approaches, London and New York: Routledge.
Bazrkar, M., 2013. System dynamic approach to hydro-politics in Hirmand transboundary river basin from sustainability perspective. Int. J. Hydrology Science and Technology, v. 3)4(.
BBC NEWS. 2021. BBC NEWS, 24 MARCH 2021. https://www.bbc.com/persian/afghanistan-56509218
Beaumont, P., Blake, G.H. and Wagstaff, J.M., 1976. The Middle East—A geographical study: London, Wiley.
Castillo-Laborde, L., 2009. Case Law on International Watercourses. In book: (Chapter 19) The Evolution of the Law and Politics of Water, Springer Science + Business Media B.V., p. 319-395.
Chase, V., 2019. Subnational Hydropolitics: Conflict, Cooperation, and Institution-Building in Shared River Basins. Global Environmental Politics, 19(4), p. 143-145.
Dehgan, A. et al, 2014. Water security and scarcity: potential destabilization in western Afghanistan and Iranian Sistan and Bluchistan due to transboundary water conflicts. In: Weinthal, J.T., Nakayama, M. (Eds.), Water and Post-Conflict Peacebuilding. Taylor and Francis, London, p. 305-326.
Dinar, A. et al. 2007. Hydropolitics and International Relations. World Scientific Series on Environmental and Energy Economics and PolicyBridges Over Water, p. 138-158.
Dinar, S., 2000. Negotiations and International Relations: A Framework for Hydropolitics. International Negotiation, 2000 / 02, v. 5(2).
Dinar, S., 2012. The Geographical Dimensions of Hydro-politics: International Freshwater in the Middle East, North Africa, and Central Asia, Eurasian Geography and Economics, v. 53(1), p. 115-142.
Dodds, K., Taylor, Z., Akbari, A., Castán Broto, V., Detterbeck, K., Inverardi-Ferri, C., Ok Lee, K., Mamadouh, V., Ramutsindela, M. and Yuan Woon, C., 2023. The Russian invasion of Ukraine: implications for politics, territory and governance, Territory, Politics, Governance, Doi: 10.1080/21622671.2023.2256119
Dolatyar, M., 2014. Hydropolitics: Challenging the Water-war Thesis. Conflict Security and Development,  v. 2(2), p. 115-124.
Ebrahimzadeh, I., Lashkaripour, Gh. and Moridi, A., 2004. The effect of geological factors in changing the course of the Hirmand River and its historical role in the movement of settlements in Sistan, Geography and Development, v. 2(4), p. 5-20 (In Persian).
Elhance, A. and Ascher, W., 2000. Hydropolitics in the Third World: Conflict and Cooperation in International River Basins; Why Governments Waste Natural Resources: Policy Failures in Developing Countries. United States Institute of Peace Press, 1999, Reviewed By Richard N. Cooper, Foreign Affairs.
Etaat, J. and Varzesh, I., 2012. Hirmand Hydropolitics: Reasons, Effects, and Consequences, Human Geography Research, v. 81, p. 193-212 (In Persian).
Ettehad, E., 2009. Hydropolitics in Hirmand/Hirmand International River Basin And Application of Integrated Water Resources Management. Master’s Thesis. 30 Credits. Advanced Level EIntegrated Water Resources Management Master’s Program Uppsala, Sweden.
Ettehad, E., 2010. Hydropolitics in Hirmand/Hirmand International River Basin. OAI, Université de soutenance, Online publication: http://stud.epsilon.slu.se.
Evenstar, L. et al, 2018. Quaternary landscape evolution of the Hirmand Basin, Afghanistan: Insights from staircase terraces, deltas, and paleoshorelines using high-resolution remote sensing analysis. Geomorphology, v. 311(15), p. 37-50.
Fard, R., 2021. Towards a New Concept of Constructivist Geopolitics: Bridging Classical and Critical Geopolitics, Central European Journal of International and Security Studies, v. 15(1), p. 26-57.
Flint, C. and Noorali, H., 2024. The relationality of geopolitical codes: the example of the Belt and Road Initiative, Asian Geographer, v. 41(1), p. 1-19. https://doi.org/10.1080/10225706.2023.2227618
Foroughi Nematolahi, A., Hassani Bagheri, M. and Sheikh Veisi, M., 2013. The Hydropolitical Impact of the Hirmand Border River on the National Security of the Islamic Republic of Iran, New Attitudes in Human Geography, v. 5(3), p. 33-51 (In Persian).
Gleick, P., 1993. Water and Conflict: Fresh Water Resources and International Security, International Security, v. 18(1), p. 79-112.
Gleick, P.H. and Shimabuku, M., 2023. Water-related conflicts: Definitions, data, and trends from the water conflict chronology. Environmental Research Letters, v. 18(3), 034022.
Gleick, P.H., Cooley, H., Morikawa, M., Morrison, J. and Cohen, M.J., 2009. The World’s water 2008-2009: The biennial report on freshwater resources (v. 6). Island Press.
Goes, B., 2016. Integrated water resources management in an insecure river basin: a case study of Hirmand River Basin, Afghanistan. International Journal of Water Resources Development, v. 32(1), p. 3-25.
Goes, B. et al, 2015. Integrated water resources management in an insecure river basin: a case study of Hirmand River Basin, Afghanistan. International Journal of Water Resources Development, (03). doi:10.1080/07900627.2015.1012661
Hafeznia, M.R., Mojtahedzadeh, P. and Alizadeh, J., 2006. Hirmand Hydropolitics and Its Impact on Iran-Afghanistan Political Relations, Space Planning, v. 2(45) (In Persian).
Haggett, P., 1972. Geography: A Modern Syntheses. New York:  Publisher: Harpercollins College Div.
Haggett, P., 1983. Geography: A Modern Syntheses. New York:  Publisher: Harpercollins College Div.
Hajihosseini, H.  et al, 2016. Hydrological Assessment of the 1973 Treaty on the Transboundary Hirmand River, Using the SWAT Model and a Global Climate Database. Water Resources Management, v. 30(13), p. 4681-4694, DOI:10.1007/s11269-016-1447-y
Hajihosseini, M., Morid, S., Hajihosseini, H., Delavar, M. and Booji, M., 2020. Impacts of land use changes and climate variability on transboundary Hirmand River using SWAT. Journal of Water and Climate Change, v. 11(4), p. 1695-1711. DOI:10.2166/wcc.2019.100
Hardy, C. and Thomas, R., 2014. Discourse in a Material World, Journal of Management Studies, v. 52(5), p. 1-27.
Heshmat Sadat, S. and Sayed, N., 2020. Afghanistan and Iran: From water treaty to water dispute. The Interpreter, Published 14 Oct 2020 06:00. https://www.lowyinstitute.org/the-interpreter/afghanistan-and-iran-water-treaty-water-dispute
Homer-Dixon, T., 1994. Environmental Scarcities and Violent Conflict: Evidence from Cases. International Security, v. 19(1), p. 5-40.
Homer-Dixon, T., 1996. Environmental Scarcity and Mass Violence, Current History (November 1996).
Hydro Review., 2021. President Ghani inaugurates 9-MW Kamal Khan Dam in Afghanistan. Hydro Review Content Directors -3.24.2021. Retrieved from https://www.hydroreview.com/hydro-industry-news/president-ghani-inaugurates-9-mw-kamal-khan-dam-in-afghanistan/#gref
Islam, M., 2011. Impact of Hirmand Water Dispute on the Bilateral Relations between Iran and Afghanistan; an Evaluation. International Journal of Central Asian Studies, v. 15, p. 113-141.
Jahan-Tigh, M. and Jahan-Tigh, M., 2019. Geochemical study of sediments caused by floods entering Hamoun Wetland, Wetland Ecobiology, v. 11(38), p. 81-96 (In Persian).
Jahan-Tigh, M., Tajbakhsh, M., Mirab Shabestari, Gh. and Memarian Khalilabad, H., 2019. Investigating the role of suspended sediment loading on morphological changes in Hirmand River, Case study: Sistan River, Watershed Engineering and Management, v. 11(2), p. 478-499 (In Persian).
Jankielsohn, R., 2018. Defining Hydropolitics: The Politics of Water in South Africa. Journal of Contemporary History, v. 37(1), p. 123-141.
Kaviani Rad, M., 2005. Hydropolitical Relations between Iran and Afghanistan, Strategic Studies Quarterly, v. 8 (28), p. 337-358 (In Persian).
Khak-e-Sefidi, A. and Nora, N., 2008. The effects of drought on the Hirmand River on environmental issues in Sistan and Hamoun Wetland, International Conference on Water Crisis, Zabol University, (In Persian).
Khosravi, M. and Raispour, Kh., 2012. Hirmand, the most important factor in the dispute between Iran and Afghanistan, National Conference on Border Cities and Security, Challenges and Approaches (In Persian).
Mahlakeng, M., 2019. A Theoretical Analysis of Hydropolitics, World Affairs: The Journal of International Issues, v. 23(4), p. 36-57.
Malakoutian, M., 2008. Environmental and Economic Importance of Hamoun International Wetland in Sistan Region, First International Conference on Water Crisis, 2008, Zabol University (In Persian).
Maleki, S., Saatchi, S., Pourmanafi, S. and Rahdari, V., 2019. Human and Climate Effects on the Hamoun Wetlands, Weather, Climate, and Society, v. 11(3), v. 609-622.
Medby, I.A., 2021. An articulation of geopolitics otherwise? Indigenous language-use in spaces of Arctic geopolitics, Area, v. 55(1), p. 18-25.
Mehrafarin, R. and Seyed Sajjadi, M., 2005. The Impact of Hydrology and Geographical Environment on the Ancient Settlements of Sistan Drainage Basin, Quarterly of Teacher of Humanities, v. 9(1) (In Persian).
Merabishvili, G. and Metreveli, T., 2021. Spiritual geopolitics of Georgia's territorial integrity, Political Geography, v. 87, 102374.
Mojtahed-zadeh, P., 2004. Small Players of Great Game. RoutledgeCurzon.
Mojtahed-Zadeh, Pi., 1993. Evolution of Eastern Iranian Boundaries. Ph.D. thesis. University of London.
Mojtahedzadeh, P., 2010. The Origin and Evolution of Sistan Borders in Iran's Border Policies and International Borders, Tehran: Samat Publications (In Persian).
Moore, S., 2018. Subnational Hydropolitics: Conflict, Cooperation, and Institution-Building in Shared River Basins (Oxford University Press, 2018).
Morid, S., Hajihosseini, H., Hajihosseini, M., Delavar , M. and Booij, M., 2016. Hydrological Assessment of the 1973 Treaty on the Transboundary Hirmand River, Using the SWAT Model and a Global Climate Database,. Water Resources Management, p. 4681-4694.
Nagheeby, M. and Warner, J., 2018. The geopolitical overlay of the hydropolitics of the Harirud River Basin. Int Environ Agreements, v. 18, p. 839-860. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10784-018-9418-9.
Nagheeby, M. and Warner, J., 2022. The 150-year itch: Afghanistan-Iran hydropolitics over the Helmand/Hirmand River. Water Alternatives, v. 15(3), p. 551-573.
Noorali, H., Flint, C. and Ahmadi, S.A., 2022. Port Power: Toward a New Geopolitical World Order, Journal of Transport Geography, v. 105(3), 103483 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S096669232200206X
Noorali, H. and Mamadouh, V., 2025. Port power 02: Chinese geoeconomic hopes and American geopolitical fears. Journal of Transport Geography, v. 125, 104207. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtrangeo.2025.104207
Noorali, H., 2024. Geopolinomic Codes: Territorial and Discursive Practices of Connectivity Networks of Political Economy. The Geographical Journal, v. 190(4), e12597. https://doi.org/10.1111/geoj.12597
Noorali, H., Zaki, Y., Campana, M. et al, 2025b. Hydropolitics of Russian-Ukrainian war: analyzing water governance conflicts in the Dnieper River basin through remote sensing techniques, GeoJournal, v. 90, 115. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10708-025-11338-0
Noorali, H., Ahmadi, S.A., Campana, M. and Barroudi, M., 2025b. Evaluation of environmental factors affecting hydropolitics of helmand transboundary basin. Iran and the Caucasus, v. 29(1), p. 77-89. https://brill.com/view/journals/ic/29/1/article-p77_6.xml
Ó Tuathail, G., 1996. Critical Geopolitics: The Politics of Writing Global Space, London: Routledge.
Ó Tuathail, G. and Agnew, J., 1992. Geopolitics and discourse: practical geopolitical reasoning in American foreign policy. Political Geography, v. 11, p. 190-204.
O’Tuathail, G., Dalby, S. and Routledge, P., 1998. The Geopolitics Reader. London and NewYork: Routledge.
Ó Tuathail, G., 2017. Near Abroad: Putin, the West and the Contest over Ukraine and the Caucasus, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Prasad Rai, S., Wolf, A., Sharma, N. and Tiwari, H., 2016. Hydropolitics in Transboundary Water Conflict and Cooperation. River System Analysis and Management, p. 353-368. DOI: 10.1007/978-981-10-1472-7_19.
Qureshi, Z., Mianabadi, H. and Parvaresh-rizi, A., 2021. Correlation Matrix Analysis of Transboundary Water Interactions in Hirmand Watershed, Iranian Soil and Water Research, v. 52(1), p. 273-300 (In Persian).
Rahmani, Z., 2020. Impact of Land use and Cover Change on Soil Organic Carbon and Total Nitrogen Storage in the Hirmand River Basin. International Journal of Research in Geography (IJRG), v. 6(1), p. 10-15.
Rai, S., 2017. Hydropolitics in Transboundary Water Conflict and Cooperation. In book: River System Analysis and Management.
Rogers, S. et al, 2023. Beyond state politics in Asia's transboundary rivers: Revisiting two decades of critical hydropolitics, Geography Compass, v. 17(4), p. 1-15.
Shahbazbegian, M., Turton, A. and Mousavi Shafaee, S., 2016. Hydropolitical Self-Organization theory; system dynamics to analyse hydropolitics of Hirmand transboundary river. Water Policy, v. 18(5),  p. 1088-1119.
Sharp, J., 2020. Materials, forensics, and feminist geopolitics, Progress in Human Geography, v. 45(5), p. 1-16.
Shirdeli, A., 2014. Hydropolitics and hydrology issues in Hirmand/Hirmand international river basin. Management Science Letters, v. 4(4), p. 807-812. DOI: 10.5267/j.msl.2014.2.002
Shroder, J., 2016. Chapter 14 - Hydro-Hegemony in Afghanistan and Surrounding Countries. Transboundary Water Resources in Afghanistan, Climate Change and Land-Use Implications, Elsevier, p. 339-359.
SIWI. 2020. ICWC Course: International Water Law. https://www.siwi.org/icwc-course-international-water-law/.
Sneddon, C. and Fox, R., 2006. Rethinking transboundary waters: A critical hydropolitics of the Mekong basin, Political Geography, v. 25(2), p. 181-202.
Solouki, H. and Nouri Nahad, F., 2019. The effect of soil properties and wind erosion on hydraulic structures of Sistan River, Natural hazards, v. 8(19-1), p. 229-242 (In Persian).
Soltani, J. and Karbasi, A., 2002. The Executive Role of the Hirmand River Legal Regime in Moderation of Sistan Drought, Quarterly of Agricultural Economics and Development, v. 10(38) (In Persian).
Specter, M., 2023. Realism after Ukraine: A Critique of Geopolitical Reason from Monroe to Mearsheimer, Analyse & Kritik, v. 44(22).
Suslov, M., Umland, A. and Mark, B., 2020. Geopolitical Imagination: Ideology and Utopia in Post-Soviet Russia, Ibidem Verlag.
Swain, A., 2001. Water wars: fact or fiction? Futures, v. 33, p. 769-781.
Tayie, M., 2016. The Hydropolitics of the Nile River Basin. Hdb Env Chem, v. 56, p. 599-654, DOI 10.1007/698_2016_106.
Turton, A., 2002. Hydropolitics: The concept and its limitations. in book: In The Developing World, A Southern African Perspective, 177 p.
Uitto, J. and Duda, A., 2002. Management of Transboundary Water Resources: Lessons from International Cooperation for Conflict Prevention, the Geographical Journal, v. 168(4), p. 365-378.
Varij Kazemi, M., 2020. The role of Hirmand hydropolitics in the occurrence of ethnic crises in Sistan and Baluchestan, Geography and Human Relations, v. 3(2), p. 143-164 (In Persian).
Vuyovich, C. and Jacobs, J., 2011. Snowpack and runoff generation using AMSR-E passive microwave observations in the Upper Hirmand Watershed, Afghanistan. Remote Sensing of Environment, v. 115, p. 3313-3321.
Waterbury, J., 1979. Hydropolitics of the Nile valley. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press.
Whitney, J., 2006. Geology, Water, and Wind in the Lower Hirmand Basin, Southern Afghanistan , Scientific Investigations Report 2006–5182. Prepared under the auspices of the U.S. Agency for International Development, 22 p.
Wolf, A. et al. 2005. Managing Water Conflict and Cooperation. in Book: State of The World, Redefining Global Security.
Zeitoun, M. and Warner, J., 2006. Hydro-hegemony – a framework for analysis of trans-boundary water conflicts. Water Policy, v. 8, p. 435-460.
Zhong, L. et al, 2009. Hirmand River Hydrologic Studies Using Alos Palsar In Sar and Envisat Altimetry. Marine Geodesy, v. 32, p. 320-333, DOI: 10.1080/01490410903094833.
Zia Tavana, M., Rahmani Fazli, A., Ganji, M.H. and Asghari Lofmajani, S., 2010. A Comparative Study of the Effects of Hirmand Water Reduction on Agricultural Activities in Sistan Villages, Human Geography Research, v. 71, p. 49-65 (In Persian).
World Bank, 2022. 9th World Water Forum, March 21-26, 2022, Dakar, Senegal, World Bank https://www.worldbank.org/en/events/2022/02/16/9th-world-water-forum.
 
 
Researches in Earth Sciences
Volume 16, Special Issue - Serial Number 64
Special Issue
December 2025
Pages 193-209

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics