The Taliban’s Minister of Water and Energy claimed that in “participatory and partisan governments” in Afghanistan, the construction of water dams was prevented in order to gain the consent of a tribe or a neighbouring country.
He said that “their government is independent and now no one can prevent the construction of dams”.
Abdul Latif Mansour, the Taliban's Minister of Water and Energy, said at an investment attraction meeting in Kabul on Thursday that their political, economic and industrial policies are independent.
He added that in their government, "no one is upset about the construction of dams”.
The Taliban minister accused previous Afghan governments of refusing to build water dams out of political interests and in compliance with the wishes of neighbouring countries.
According to him, "In the past, when there were participatory governments, whenever a dam construction plan was proposed in a region, a high-ranking person would be upset and say, 'Don't build this dam because it concerns my people or tribe.' Or, he was friendly with a country and said, 'That country will be upset.'"
Mansour added that previous governments were unable to manage water resources due to wars and financial incapacity. He described the situation in Afghanistan under Taliban rule as good and appealed to investors to invest.
The Taliban's efforts to build dams have raised concerns among neighbouring countries. Recently, a spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry said that since the planning of dams in Afghanistan, the issue of securing Iran's water rights from border and shared rivers has been on the Islamic Republic's agenda.
Officials of the Islamic Republic have described the construction of dams, including the Salma, Pashdan, and Bakhshabad dams, as a serious threat to agriculture in some provinces of the country, such as Khorasan and Sistan and Baluchestan.
