HELMAND RIVER DISPUTE.

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP08C01297R000100130016-2
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 9
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 6, 2012
• Sequence Number: 16
• Publication Date: May 27, 1948
• Content Type: MISC

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i o. li;.h
tie. lriand % ver dispute.
REC77*~~D 311i1
JUNE' 14
ME'
ACTION
r:Eii -ii.".:3E.1.iG Ci ..
INFO .air:
/M.
Aw.crican
? hrtui, Iran, v.c y 27, 1914.3
vv i
FC 1/ :t W:ve the honor to transwLit 'tore-.%ith a mer orendwu of conver
DCR satiori i `hich an officer of the -tiaass r had on .- y 15, 1 48 iv'ith
ITP the uovernor of Iranian 'r.iuchdstan sn th Irr'nian Director-General
FUFCi of 1,griculture relative to the Je1:.nd. }fiver question. It :ill
OIL be observed that while these of icials eonfir. eci reports that the
3eistan area vas well supplied t ith water at the tires tt t,ir---e, they
DAVY bot'_i had. ;;rave : risr4vin;:,s reg src'tnq the. future, end one of them -
CIt, went so far as to express the opinion that Iran should break off
e~'7O~, .c^.~.'~-t?i] 1?].t'tl ~':fG~.lc^..n~.Sfia1 I'3,=cn.rO7.i-,-, this question and L!O to
AI Li 21 '~
war in defense of its rights.
2/ There is also trannsr fitted herewith the text, translated f'ront
the local press, of a stater ent =:-jade in tht; : ` . Jlis on lay 16,
1948, by :.'r. !.usa hurt .~sfandiary, 'iniater, of Foreinm Affairs,,
out- -trim' the steps taken by the Iranian Governrnent with regard
to t1no :solution of the dispute .rara Po. 534 of -.ay 17, 1942, the Moretti ::anister'o remarks
17e e in reply to aucstions raised by several :rev ers of the Lajs,
v.4-10 were quite critical of the Govexn-:tent' a hrndling of this
rratter.
There are also enclosed, for the inforr:rtion of the ;epartntet
3/, !;f and the : r*.bc.aay in i abul, extracts from two recent articles in
the Tehran press're?z~yrciin> the =.:e]s;iatd fiver. It will have been
observed from the :~r.,i~~. say! s recent reports on the press that a.
;b,, of news ~r3ex'~ have referred to this subject in the last
tit
s _r:
few weeks, and tt.ost have been critical of the Gover aient 1 s 111)ndlirig
of the disnute.
The first of the enclosed trticles, fro i the pro-Co ntunist
organ of the iudeii F rty, is of sort-=e interest as illustrat-
in Zshat is evidently tie Co*::n.unist line ou the ;uesti on, namely,
that the 'United :3tatos has cieliberr;.tely created the reliuand problem
in order to , rovide a. sroterit for intervention in the question.
Ti,e second
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i tom.' s.. A AfA~ ?~ YSL~':~L ice..... r. OA 4.)f ~:-J~T~... Lva~L L4pa@
the conversation mentioned. above, resses the viet that the
Iranian Gov m.,;.w t ;.,ay have to take rattor:3 into Its omhands0
The second, article, from tt e ? in erit left-win :;M), is suite
critical of f =hsnistan one, li'_ ' overnor of 'a1uchistan in
ales. ctfully yours,
clos- ree: '
1/, L oaarnandum of Conversation,
2/, Transls tion, stetment of
.. iinister of 1?oreign ?:ffafra,.
3/, Tr ons_1r tion from 11I- MI .
Translation from DAD.
vcra
cojppr for Eahul.
To 30w rtarent In original end heotographo
MIZFIDU IAL
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? + - - ,lz S....l.v'cs ~'..t.;.'?:: pr~Q to lesr."'.~.~'f:C'.
146, Stinted YLev 2.7, 1914E , trcrn
American ; rbassy, Tehran, Ir .i1,
~.. I?s.t:i t1k Gt" ('t`: ~t t TiCIIV
XME: Lay 15, 1948
His .: cellency i ssado11ah `,hozei neh t:lt n,
Governor of Iranian 3aluohistan,
kiis 'a.-celleney Hossein a11-tozoineh
Director General of Iranian Z'inistry
of 1 rr:iculture.
k r. iWan L. bison,
1First 3ecretary of .. isssy,
3(:13J. C i : Iiei and River Dispute.
In conversation today both the Governor of e;aluchistan and
his cous:Ln , the Director General of =.griculture, expressed the
gravest concern with regard to the apparent reluctance of the
1..f Chin Government to come to an agreement regarding the Helmand.
The Governor, who has just returned to Tehran, told c~ie that he
had recently visited ?abol and the .3eiatan area, and had never
smon z o ,much water as there is there now. He confirmed newspaper
re". oO is tl.-vtt conditions v ere very good at the moment but said that
th(e r a jority of the farmars 'sere hesitating to plant anything,
rr.,-uE~e of uncertainty as to the future. ;oreover, due to the
f r_t that the rains in the Helmand basin did not begin this year
w6Zti l Jenuary Instead of October, as is customary, only about
one-quarter of the usual winter planting vias done. As a result
the outlook is extremely serious, and there is a general fear in
the region that unless some drastic action is taken by the central
government, there will be a recurrence of last suni ierf s drought.
The Director General of Agriculture confirmed the foregoing
from reports reaching his rdnistry. Both these gentlemen reiterated
the prevailing Iranian attitude that ffghanista^n is deliberately
holding back the water of the river. I remarked that our military
air attache on a recent trip to Nahul had spoken with the !saerican
engineers :marking for the LT.orrison.-f:nudsen Company, who had shown
him their plans for the development of the ReImanct region. I
said our attache was convinced from this conversation that not
only vas northing contemplated that would in any way injure Iran,
but that actually the - construction of certain storage dams m ght
be in Irene s interest, as the Dater would thus be conserved for
use throu:Shout the year.
The two Leesrs. Al^n arid they could not undersi.and wby, if
this i.ere the case, t f ghanistan should not allow the Iranians to
cone and see for ttheuselves t,Izat was being done. They expressed
apr radiation for the assistance of tees Department of State but
?c rc doubtful that i: fi-h nistan would agree either to pers*iit the
Ire.ni_an .:!,Iiaasrtdor at I10.i;ul to visit the Helwand. area, or to set
up the
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PI; LD ITuL
Iran should break off relations and go to war in defense of its
rig htee I ww a weed at the intensity of his feelinr_ on this
i oint as-In my acquaintrnee pith him I have always found his
approach to most subjects to bo.quite reasonable.
I nc1oc ure No. 1 i;o Des;~Jateh fro.
146, dated Lay 27, 1948, fra n :
iuneric n :::tasey, Tehran, Iran.
tip the cortrdemlon proposed by the +eparbmmt. The Governor of
' 1u h iaten went so. far as to* say that the throught it vas hope-
less to. look for any a eent with f ,hanistan. He believed
`t:Wilson:vcm
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2 to 1csp: itC%,1 ? o.
14, datedsy 27, 1918, from
merican smba; sy, Tehran, Iran.
TiA3,;s :I' Ot
OF _ I IJ.f; x_ CI ;.113 AFr'.'.Ii v
THY: fliIZ P 11D
Jource: Jodrnal Jo Tehran of b.ay 18, 1948:
1-t 3urv.LVt s session of Fr rlianent, Fr. Nuri-.::sfandiary, L in:5 ster
of Foreign.ffairs, repl4-ing to the questions of deputies relative
to the lielmand., rude a statement of which the substance appears
below:
"The 24 of asfand, ft* 'r. Nuri ..~sfandiary stated, "the Government
received a report from the Iranian massy in riashington outlining
the viewpoint of the Department of state regarding the division of
the waters of the Helmand.
"Here is a s=,oary of this report: L_ technical conu:+.ission
comprising three representatives chosen from neutral states by the
Iranian and Afe;:rn Governments would inspect the whole course of
the river in Iran and In ,%fghanistan. In its study of all the
-problems relative to the Hel nd,--such as the determination of the
volun of ::meter, the number of tributaries of the river, the build-
ing of darns, and the te:nporiry irri Ption of 3eistan until the
conclusion of a definite a . eenent on this subject.-the connission
in question, while taking into consideration similar rgreements
reached in this field between other countries, should draft a
detailed report to be submitted to the two governwnta.
''For their pr- rt, the two parties should zm-ke known their con-
curr?once or refus:_1 within tltirty c;a s from the receipt of the
"The Iranian Government, r fter exantinin the proposal of the
United 3tatee rtmont of 3tc.te, aceepted/t~lth s few codifications
of detail.. for exauIple, it requested the presence of on Iranian
representative on the commission and a period of sixty days during
olhich it would r: ke known its refusal or acceptance of the report
of the coznission,
The 15 of 'arvardin, 1327** the accertance of the American
position was comuunicated to the Iranian 2ubassy in ..ashington.
I nsyself requested the United estates iu bas3 ador to inform the
Iranian Government as soon as possible regarding the result of
the conversations which were talcimig place in the ?epartr ent of
Jtate with regard to the Helrmnd.
"i noreover, a telet rams vas sent to the Iranian , sbasay in
Kabul strtinp, th=:t as during the nit ninth the level of the
waters would fell considerably, it was necessary to begin conver-
sations vt once with the _:fgh n ?:inistry of ;oreicm .ffairs with
a view to .!uaranteeing water for seistan durinr the course of the
su=rer season.
"The Iranian
~~ . r? rch 15.
/. pri l L, 1948.
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officials In S'eistan, ? is requiring thousands of laborers.
the d,,,han ruover t to stop the di ;;ping of. the 3oghra Vanal,
the work-on which, according-, to reports received from Iranian
CL'.J U. i i
:1 c1o ur No. 2 to De a! %tch loo
146, dated a icy 27, 19 48,, from
! rm.ricrn : ~~J:e ss >, Tehran, Iran*
WIM4 Iranian ;, se r n Kabul wee also instructed to request
all tlrt he can to reach a solution of the question of the uelrand;
"woreover, the Afghan Ambassador in TeYran in every inter.
view thich I have had with hiw, bas 'assured me that he will do
"In the tires of the late Reza Shah Pahlevi, conversations
underteken bete the two governments ;or the conclusion of a
satisfactory t reernent resulted i1i the ? sinieture of the as?reem~ent
.of 1317.* l coording to the terns of this agree eht, the two
.parties -ere of the opinion that the waters of the Uelriand as
far a.6 the K z al K Tan t would be divided equally between Iran
and Althouei the agreement and the declaration
si v y the representatives of the two governments at Kabul
erc approved by Parliament and although the ' fghan Govenunent
in turn _p-)roved them the Afghan P rliaanent refused to ratify
them and it was accordingly not possible to put the agreesent in
question into. force.
"It is to be regretted that the .i f 'han Government refused
to. ratify the proclamation relative to the safeguarding of the,
waters of aeisten, especially as the iranian Goverrunent expected
an entirely different attitude on the part of a neighboring and
friendly strate. All of the efforts of the Iranian Governrmt in
1317*** with a view to obtaining the approval of the Aft-than
Parliament to the proclamation were unsuccessful. Likewise,
the proposals of. the Iranian Government, put forward with complete
npaxtiality and'with a perfect understanding of the interest of
both parties, were rejected. By the start of the year 1327;
are were convinced that the Afghan Prrliament would not ratify the
ecl aration. ' The Iranian Government then. proposed that Iranian
declaration*'
engineers and experts, in cooperation with a delegation of i'tghan
experts, aiiould< Inspect the :course of the.iieLmand..and draft a
detailed m -port to serve as a basis for new conversations with a
view to the settlement of the dispute.
" lnfortuns telly, this proposal was also rejected. It vas
then v roposed that the Iranian 1"inister of - J gricultura, accompanied
by a delegation, wui4 proceed to the area to inspect the course
of the elLvmd,undertake negotiations With the Afghan authorities
and, finally, a.r, ive at a tangible result. Although the Afghan
overran .nt offered no objection insofar as concerned the visit of
the inistcr of Agriculture, it raised certain questions and
created difficulties of a nature to make the Iranian Government
c sapair of the, possibility of arriving z t a practical result.
"The -':aerican
The; reference is to the convention signed at Kabul January
26, 193.9.
Band-a-Kemal Khan.
1939-39
* March 21, 194A.
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?alc urn Ica, 2 to spa,tch
146, .,tai ed 14%.y 27, 1948, from
rnerieen . I.uk' 3ti4", Tehran, Iran.
"The r erican Goverraent asked certain questions of the Iranian
Uovcrn:.ent concerning the volume of ;rater necessary for the irriga-
tion of . eistan in the.different the of the ye r, the area of
amble land in Seistan, the dispatch of a. neutral delegation to
inquire into the volume of f:ater, anJ the participation of. Iran in
the construction 'of reservoirs for water; and at the same time in-
quired as to the attitude of the Government relative to the defini-
tive division of the wr=.ters of the Eelmand, etc. After eacertining
these questions the Iranian Government replied. The Government
of the United States mt the same questions to the fr t ;gin Govern
"This _'ivee the 'rresent position ;pith regard to the lio]ma ode
i.1.1 i eputies now know the problem. I think 'that between two
nei._ Yhboring and friendly countries whose territory is irrigated
by the waters` of the te=e river, perfect understanding. rt rule
on a basis of -equity..
?tis, regards further: levelopn ents. in this matter, that is to
say,, the intervention of the Dovern,nent of the United states and
the designation of. a eon elusion of inciuir r, I ha.vo for the time
being nothix to say to you, for the problem is now under study,
I hope, however, . that in the near future I will be able to inform
you of the re ulte
"I repeat that I hope t6 at the i f :Tan :;overnment will be will.
ing to-take this. ueetion under consideration rnd cooperate with a
view to reaching a solution in a spirit of uiiderstaadirn and friend-
ship, so that r.e shall. not be obli 'ed to have recourse to interna-
tional machinery so long as it is possible for the dispute to be
resolved in a friendly manner between the two pa.rties.e
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TP_E: Y" 1 +~L L1 b'Z Esy , `1'ehr-i d. `.-%'n .
i ay 21, 194
F M D0K in a lengthy article mentions the Helmand river question
ancs calls it a political natter. t e :.~riter of the article
mentions ?'r. .3olster, the ',-ricultrural ittache&s, trip to Seisten
and the :tax oun Lake and presumes that this journey to that terri-
tory h- j trk' close connection with the I.elr:and problez4 uhore the
;:r+zeric,ms have Intentionally crorted such problems and difficulties
in order to have plausible reasons 1 "or their interference. "The
r?jr.ericans,'e saps the paper, "are now appointed as arbiter in the
~: attar. t?ur ,is ..L to on this river is rn old one and it had to be
"e orrcci to the Ui 0, but in a. discussion %-bich went on between
leor:-u ..lien szd the head of our .:we _raent then, the fitter was
suddcniy referred to L -erica rather than to the 11.110 and :s erica
J.n ,zoducsd herself as the only arbiter. In his explanations a few
::.r so the oreiL n 1.1irdeter briefly mentioned this ppint that
5