A total of $30 million worth of hand-woven carpets were exported from Iran during the first seven months of the current Iranian year (March 21- Oct. 22), the head of Iran Chamber of Cooperatives’ Handicrafts and Tourism Commission said.
Abdollah Bahrami added that the country’s handmade carpet exports amounted to $420 million in the last Iranian year (ended March 20, 2019), ILNA reported.
“Currently, 6,000 people are working in the hand-woven carpet industry,” he said.
According to Bharami Iran has exported $1.5 billion worth of hand-woven carpets in the last two decades.
The UAE, China, Germany and South American countries are the main customers of Iranian hand-woven carpets, he said.
The US, previously the biggest importer of Iranian hand-woven carpet, stopped importing after the Trump administration reimposed sanctions against Iran. The country used to import $80-100 million worth of Iranian carpet.
In May 2018, US President Donald Trump unilaterally pulled his country out of the JCPOA signed between Iran and major world powers in 2015, in defiance of global criticism, and later re-imposed the sanctions that had been lifted against Tehran as part of the agreement.
Barter system to sell Persian carpets
Fereshteh Dastpak, the head of Iran National Carpet Center, said plans are underway to establish a barter system to trade Persian hand-woven carpet for other commodities.
Dastpak said China, currently a major buyer of Persian hand-made carpets, has expressed its readiness to apply such a system to import Iranian carpets. Sweden and Russia have also offered to trade Iranian carpets for a range of other commodities, she said.
According to the official, about 80% of hand-woven carpets produced in Iran are exported. The product has always been among the top three non-oil export commodities of Iran.