Commander of the Quds Force of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) is visiting Baghdad to meet the leaders of Tehran-backed Shia groups as well as the Iraqi prime minister, Arab media reported Sunday.
Esmail Ghaani (Qaani) and a number of his advisers in the Quds Force arrived in Baghdad on Sunday morning to meet with the leaders of the Shia factions and the head of the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), Falih al-Fayyadh, Erem News reported citing an Iranian source.
Iraq's Alsumaria TV says Ghaani will later meet with Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, who is expected to visit Tehran on Wednesday.
Iranian officials or state-run media have not yet confirmed reports about Ghaani's visit to the Iraqi capital.
In the meetings, Ghaani will discuss Washington's pressure on the Iraqi government to dissolve the PMU or integrate them into the Iraqi armed forces, the reports said.
The developments in Syria and the fall of Bashar al-Assad will also be a focus of the IRGC Quds Force chief's talks with Iraqi politicians.
The Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), also known as Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) or Hashd al-Shaabi, was established in 2014 following a religious decree to combat ISIS, which at the time had taken control of four Iraqi governorates and threatened Baghdad.
Supported by the IRGC, these groups wield considerable power over Iraq’s governance, military operations, and energy infrastructure.
Despite their original mandate to combat ISIS, many of the militias have since expanded their activities, frequently targeting US forces and installations in Iraq with rockets and drones, and exacerbating tensions between Tehran and Washington.
While the Iraqi state-sponsored umbrella organization is largely composed of Shia Muslim groups, it also includes Sunni Muslim, Christian, and Yazidi factions with an estimated 128,000 fighters across 67 different armed factions.
“The most significant issue we have faced during the Taliban's rule has been about water rights and adherence to legal matters, rules, contracts, and treaties previously established with Afghanistan, which unfortunately have not been respected,” Fada-Hossein Maleki told ILNA on Sunday.
The comment comes amid escalating tensions over the construction of dams on transboundary rivers, which has significantly reduced water flow to Iran’s drought-stricken eastern provinces. The Pashdan Dam on the Harirud River, recently completed by Afghanistan, is the latest flashpoint in a long-standing dispute over water rights.
Maleki further criticized the absence of mutual cooperation under Taliban leadership, observing that the group's governance structure lacks the mechanisms seen in previous Afghan administrations, which allowed for regional collaboration on shared resources.
Esmaeil Baghaei, spokesperson for Iran's foreign ministry, underscored the importance of cooperation as well.
“Afghanistan is expected to cooperate in keeping the flow of water and removing the obstacles that have been created,” he said on Thursday, pointing to violations of the 1973 Helmand River Water Treaty.
The dispute over water rights is also critical for Iran’s Sistan and Baluchestan province, which depends on the Helmand River to sustain its wetlands, including the Hamoun Lake.
Once lush and teeming with life, the wetlands are now largely barren due to water scarcity exacerbated by upstream dams.
Hossein Sargazi, Deputy for Natural Resources and Watershed Management of Sistan and Baluchestan, warned about the worsening conditions: “All these measures threaten the inflow of water to eastern Iran. The situation in Sistan and Baluchestan has become very dire, and with the dust storms, the conditions are worsening.”
Sargazi also highlighted Afghanistan’s strategic use of water as a geopolitical tool. “The Taliban is seeking to establish hegemony through water. They want to claim control over mines, land, forests, and water, and thus require negotiation,” he said.
Afghanistan’s water management projects have drawn interest from foreign investors, complicating the situation further. Sargazi pointed to the involvement of nations like China and Turkey, which are leveraging the water sector to secure strategic footholds. The Pashdan Dam itself was constructedwith assistance from an Azerbaijani firm, showing the international dimension of the issue.
Iran has long struggled with securing its water rights from Afghanistan. In 1999, the Taliban halted the flow of the Helmand River entirely, leading to environmental and economic repercussions for Iran. While the 1973 treaty guarantees Iran a share of the water, enforcement has been inconsistent, often leaving Iran’s eastern provinces in crisis.
Recent diplomatic efforts have done little to resolve the matter, and officials fear that ongoing dam construction could trigger a deeper crisis in a region already grappling with climate change and drought.