TEHRAN -- The Islamic Republic of Iran and Afghanistan should abide by the contents of a mutual agreement on the Hirmand River signed in 1973, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman said on Monday.

The Islamic Republic insists that Afghan officials live to their commitments in that connection, Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hamid-Reza Assefi told reporters in his weekly press address.

Assefi called the reopening of the Hirmand River after the recent visit by President Mohammad Khatami to Afghanistan as a great success for the Islamic Republic.

Under the 1973 agreement, Afghanistan is obliged to let at least 26 cubic meters per second flow from its dams onto the Hirmand River to reach Iran.

However, the Taleban in 1999 turned the taps off completely.

Following the downfall of the militia, the Islamic Republic once again raised the issue with the administration of new Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

Afghanistan eventually reopened the Hirmand River into Iran earlier this month, and its water reached Iranian border over the weekend, IRNA reported.

Iran had already warned of an impending human catastrophe in Sistan-Baluchestan Province if rolling dunes and moving sandstorms, triggered by drying up of the Hamoun Lake into which the Hirmand River pours, continued to flood the province.

Sandstorms have drastically buried some 124 villages in the province and have destroyed thousands of acres of farmlands thus forcing the residents to immigrate to major cities to escape the drought and the unemployment. The storms have also increased cases of asthma and eye diseases among the residents.

Sand has also inundated the Hirmand riverbed up to 40 kilometers inside the Afghan territory. Besides, a large number of livestock have perished as a result of the destruction of pastures abutting the river's banks.

Furthermore, the drying up of the Hamoun Lake and the Hirmand River have also increased the risk of flash floods in the province.