Monitoring of continuous river borders on both sides of the border (case study of Hirmand)

The ownership and right to exploit the water of the border rivers is not fully in the possession of a country. This issue has long been the source of political disputes and conflicts and even wars and military operations between governments. The Hirmand border river originates from the Hindu Kush mountains in the west of Kabul, Afghanistan, and finally flows into the Hamun wetland located in the Sistan plain of Iran. This river has been one of the legal issues and disputes between Iran and Afghanistan over the determination of international borders and how to divide water since the signing of the Treaty of Paris in 1857 until now. Hirmand River forms the international border between Iran and Afghanistan in a part of Sistan. The possible changes in the course of this river due to climate fluctuations and human activities in the long term, can be the basis for more political disputes between Iran and Afghanistan over the determination of border boundaries (sovereignty). Therefore, in this study, monitoring the long-term changes of the Hirmand River in the common border area between Iran and Afghanistan is considered as a legal-political necessity. For this purpose, the time series of remote sensing images has been used as a reliable, low-cost and valuable information source.