مهرداد مهر عبدالله ئی

In the current era, it is the source of many conflicts and regional conflicts between the states that share watersheds. Basically, the existence of common water resources in border areas as an economic resource is considered an important factor in border disputes between countries. The purpose of writing this article is to analyze the hydropolitical tensions in the border areas of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

The current research is a descriptive-analytical research in terms of its practical purpose and in terms of the nature of the data and the method of collection. To carry out the present research, after collecting the documents related to the research, they were explained and analyzed and practical results were presented.

The obtained findings show; Reasonable and valid agreements regarding shared watersheds have not been made with neighboring countries, or if they exist, they do not have a strong legal framework that can be cited in international courts.

The Islamic Republic of Iran has actual tensions in its border areas, especially in the eastern borders with Afghanistan and in the western borders with Iraq, and in the northern and northwestern borders with Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan and Turkey, there are potential tensions in the field of hydropolitical resources. Keeping in mind that in the not too distant future, hydropolitical resources will be one of the most important resources that will be the source of conflicts or local and regional crises, it is necessary to adopt written planning regarding the aforementioned resources in order to prevent the formation of any tension and conflict

Iran and Iraq, as two influential actors in historical periods, have always been influenced by convergent/divergent actions arising from geographical realities in between and in the region, because the factor of geography somehow imposes itself on political systems. Therefore, in recent years, one of the border challenges between Iran and Iraq that has affected the foreign policy of the two countries has been the issues related to hydro-politics. Applying a descriptive-analytical method, the present study aims to answer the following question: What are the most important border challenges of Iran and Iraq in the field of hydro-politics? To conduct the current research, after collecting the documents related to the research, they were explained and analyzed, and the obtained results showed that the most important border challenges of Iran and Iraq in the field of hydro-political resources can be analyzed in two local and regional dimensions. In the local dimension, the mismanagement of water resources and jeopardizing border security due to the crisis-generating potential of the western borders of the country, which can be explained in this issue, first; it mentioned the possibility of a negative reaction of the local people to any action to agree with Iraq to hand over any water resources, taking into account the reduction of these resources; second, intensification of environmental hazards, including the increase of fine dust in the western provinces of the country, which will have a negative reaction inside the country. In the regional dimension, the lack of mutual agreement between the two countries of Iran and Iraq on the use of water resources of the border rivers, which can lead to the formation of any political and security tensions with a regional approach in the future, and determining the share of water rights has become a lever of pressure on the part of the two countries against political demands.