Two Iranian border guards and a Taliban fighter were killed today after a gunfight broke out near a border post between Iran and Afghanistan, a Taliban spokesman said and Iranian state media reported.

The three people were killed in an exchange of fire between Iranian forces and the Taliban on the border between the two countries, according to Taliban officials.

Earlier, Iranian police called it a “clash” without giving details of casualties, and local Iranian news agency Mehr reported the death of an Iranian border guard. Irna then reported that two Iranian border guards were killed and two Iranian civilians were injured.

Following the clash, Iranian authorities closed the Milak-Zaranj border post, a major trade crossroads – and not the site of the clash – until further notice, Irna reported.

Both sides accuse each other of opening fire first.

The incident comes amid tension between Tehran and Kabul over the distribution of water from the Helmand River, a dam built in Afghanistan that restricts the flow of water to drought-stricken Iran.

“During the clash, one person was killed on each side and several were injured,” Taliban Interior Ministry spokesman Abdul Nafi Thakur said in a message on his Twitter account.

“The situation (is) currently under control,” he said, adding that his government “does not want a war with its neighboring” country.

On Saturday morning, “Taliban forces started firing with all kinds of weapons at an Iranian police outpost from Afghan territory,” Iran’s deputy police chief, General Qasem Rezaei, had said earlier, according to the official Irna news agency.

The police then responded to the shooting that took place on the border with the province of Sistan Baluchistan, in the southeast of Iran.

“After the fighting started, the police chief ordered the border guards to prevent anyone from approaching the border,” General Rezai added.

Iran, which shares a border of more than 900 kilometers with Afghanistan, does not recognize the government formed by the Taliban.

Tehran recently warned that it “reserves” the right to take measures to collect water from the Helmand River, which originates in central Afghanistan and makes it possible to irrigate large areas of agricultural land in southeastern Iran.

Afghan government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said Afghanistan was “determined to fulfill its obligations” but that Iran’s “inappropriate statements” could damage relations between the two countries.