Legality of Potential Iranian Countermeasures against Afghanistan over Helmand River

Abstract

North, South and Western Afghanistan are this year facing their most severe drought in decades. The extreme drought leads to the reduction of the Helmand River water too. The river is one of the four Transboundary Rivers of Afghanistan that has seriously influenced the political relations of Afghanistan and Iran. It is governed by a Treaty that has proportioned the water between the two countries.
The reduction in Iran's share in the water has driven Iran to warn Afghanistan of using countermeasures. Iran Minister of Foreign Affairs in an interview with a State television of Iran that Iran can leverage the issues of Afghan refugees and border transactions to resolve the problem of water distribution with Afghanistan. This article tries to answer the question that does Iran have any right under the 1973 Treaty and International Customary or Conventional Law to resort to countermeasures for the implementation of the 1973 Treaty? If the answer is in the affirmative then how can it be achieved? If it is negative, then what other legal means Iran has at its disposal for securing the implementation of the 1973 Treaty?