Iran has lost the largest market for its handwoven carpets due to long-term sanctions.
Razi Haj-Aqa-Miri, Head of Export Union of Tehran Chamber of Commerce, says that since the revolution Iran has lost American market as its biggest costumer of Persian carpets.
“America has always been our most important market for carpets. Although some exporters tried to bypass sanctions by exporting Iranian carpets from Mexico or Canada, but now Trump administration is determined to close all channels”, says Mr Haj-Aqa-Miri.
According to him, Iranian carpets have been replaced by Paksitani and Indian products. “Americans order Iranian styles to India and Pakistan and they wave those designs. It will be impossible to get that market back again. Once the nuclear deal was reached, we noticed how much that market has changed and how tough the competition has become. However, with the new period of sanctions, we lost hope to be able to change anything anymore”, adds Mr Haj-Aqa-Miri.
Although he believes Iranian carpet has not yet been replaced by competitors at the European market, but lacking a proper financial system to transfer money could heavily hurt export to Europe as well.
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