The Hamun-e Mashkid (= Mashkel) lies within Pakistan with its western edge on the border with Iran. In this instance hamun means a salt waste. The mountain ranges in this area of Iran are parallel with the Iran-Pakistan border and run in a northwest-southeast direction.

The Mashkid River rises to the east of the mountains ringing the Hamun-e Jaz Murian basin and flows east into Pakistan where it receives a right bank tributary, the Rakhshan River, before turning north to flow into the Hamun-e Mashkid. Its total length is ca. 430 km. Two tributaries of the Mashkid within Iran are the Rutak River and the Simish (= Sunish River) which drain the lowlands between Kuh-e Birag (27°35'N, 61°20'E) and the Badamo Range (27°38'N, 62°08'E) from the northwest to enter the Mashkid River southeast of Saravan (27°22'N, 62°20'E). The upper Mashkid River is a small mountain stream, probably with a perennial flow. The lower reaches of this river, and of the Simish, comprise a series of muddy pools of varying size. Some of these pools were isolated and fishless in early December 1977, while larger ones, perhaps 1 km long, contained some emaciated specimens. In this area fish are found more abundantly in perennially flowing qanat streams.

The Tahlab River and its tributaries drain the eastern slopes of the mountains south of Zahedan. The Tahlab flows in a southeasterly direction into the Hamun over a ca. 160 km course. It was dry between Zahedan and Mirjaveh (29°01'N, 61°28'E) in early December 1977. The Ladiz River is a short (ca. 80 km) right bank tributary of the Tahlab flowing from Kuh-e Taftan. In its lower reach it was a small stream flowing in the bottom of a deep and wide canyon. The stream banks were white with salt deposits.

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