Tehran, Oct 26, IRNA � One of our main demands in our negotiations with Afghanistan is Iran's right to the Helmand water, Says Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif.

Following the 1857 separation of Afghanistan from mainland Iran, the then Afghan government refused to allow the Iranian side to enjoy its water right from the Helmand border river.

Helmand water rights have since been a main issue of contention between Iran and Afghanistan, especially in recent decades and it tends to be one of the main political, social and environmental problems between Tehran and Kabul.

Answering a question raised by Hossein-Ali Shahriari, Zahedan's Representative, on Iran's Helmand water right, Zarif said that the recognition of Iran's rights is an integral part of our cooperation with Afghanistan.

'We have constantly raised the issue of Iran's Helmand water right with the Afghan officials,' Zarif said at the parliament's open session.

Iran's foreign ministry maintains that the issue of Iran's water rights in the Helmand and Hari rivers as well as the Lake Hamun should be top on Iran and Afghanistan agenda, Zarif said.

'The foreign ministry feels responsible to support the rights of the Iranian people especially those who are living in the border cities who make sacrifices to defend the sovereignty of the nation and maintain the security of the country,' he said.

The Lake Hamun is a shallow, marshy, lake (or lagoon) or h?m?n located in the Sistan region of eastern Iran and western Afghanistan. It is fed by the Helmand River, which starts in the Hindu Kush Mountains in Afghanistan.

The Hari River or Herat River is a river flowing 1,100 kilometers (680 mi) from the mountains of central Afghanistan to Turkmenistan, where it disappears in the Kara-Kum desert.

By IRNA