If you ask any Iranian about the meaning of a Persian rug, they will refer to the kings of the ancient Qajar dynasty of Persia, or they will talk about the mountain towns of their country, where the symbols that adorn each piece change from tribe to tribe. . In recent years, these coveted rugs—artisanally handwoven from silk and wool—have disappeared from Western living rooms. It is one of the collateral damage of the decades of international sanctions imposed by the West at the beginning of the 21st century. The United States has accused the Iranian regime of terrorism and attacks against American targets. Since 2006, the United Nations Security Council has adopted several resolutions calling on Iran to stop enriching uranium for nuclear proliferation purposes. Since then, and with different periods of tension, the economy of the Persian Gulf giant has been losing brilliance and has survived thanks to limited oil exports.
Three decades ago, hand-woven carpets represented an income of 2 billion dollars (1.84 billion euros in current currency) for the Iranian economy, according to data from the Central Bank of Iran. They even surpassed oil resources. Today, that figure barely exceeds 100 million dollars (92 million euros), according to data from the Tehran Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture. In 2022, Iran was the fifth largest global exporter of carpets, contributing 7.5% of the world’s supply. In 1995, it was the world’s leading producer of carpets, according to data provided by the Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC).
The trade in these textiles has not been the same since Washington decided to approve a package of sanctions against Iran at the beginning of the century, with petrodollars in its sights. The trade blockade banning the import of Persian rugs, and other products such as pistachios and caviar, was lifted by the White House in 2010, but was reestablished under Trump in 2018. Since then, imports from Tehran have not recovered its previous volumes.
Carpet traders have been left virtually cut off from foreign markets after Washington and Brussels agreed to block access to the international Swift banking payments system in 2012, making it extremely difficult to accept payments from foreigners. So far this year, the United States has only imported 3.9 million dollars (3.5 million euros) in goods from Iran, according to the US Federal Statistical System. The Western economic blockade led the country to formulate Shetab, its own banking payment system formed by 27 Iranian banks.
Mirmola Soraya (47, Ramsar, Iran), an artist who has studied the archaic art of weaving rugs in both nomadic and urban styles, spends between four months and four years on a single piece. The influences of Soraya – whose works can exceed 2,000 euros – extend from the desert town of Kashan, to the mountainous lands of Afghanistan, or the markets of the city of Isfahan, known for its rugs with a high density of knots. Kashan, 190 kilometers from the Iranian capital, was once an important stop on the Silk Road.
“The sanctions have made it more difficult,” Soraya tells EL PAÍS from her apartment in the center of Tehran. “Carpet marketing is on the verge of extinction. Europeans are reluctant to buy Iranian carpet products, and now buy them from competitors exploiting the market, such as Turkey or India. On the other hand, we have lost the American market,” he says.
The rial, Iran’s currency, hit record lows against the dollar in April, falling as low as 705.00 rials to the dollar in the informal market after Tehran launched retaliation against Tel Aviv on April 14, according to data from Bloomberg. Although the Iranian economy has become accustomed to living with sanctions, the consequences are still seen on the street, and it has given way to new competitors, such as China, the largest carpet market.
In 2022, Beijing exported carpets worth a total of 1,480 million dollars (1,368 million in euros), according to OEC data. India is in second place, and is responsible for around 40% of global exports, according to statistics from the Indian trade portal. However, the most recognized epicenter of the carpet trade is no longer a bazaar in Tehran, Shiraz or Kashan, but, in the bowels of any of the 3,600 stores in the Grand Bazaar of Istanbul.
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Reza Bagheri Gisour (Golestan, Iran) is the owner of Golestan Alfombras Persas and one of the 7,477 residents of Iranian nationality in Spain, where he has lived since 2010 in the Madrid district of Chamartín. The store, which Bagheri Gisour considers his own art museum, is embedded in an inconspicuous corner of Calle López de Hoyos with walls draped with rugs from the cities of Shiraz, Tehran, or Afghanistan. However, he confesses that the almost non-existent access to the Western banking system has continued to make it difficult to import these mats.
Soraya, for her part, considers the Persian carpet to be Iran’s gift to the world, but regrets the current conditions of the sector. “Believe it or not, this industry is in danger because the new generation of weavers are reluctant to do business. It is no longer profitable.” The artist prefers to focus on the beauty of his craft rather than politics. “Greece gave the world philosophy. The Iranian achievement is the Persian carpet, a treasure that has survived from generation to generation.”
![An exchange office in Tehran.](https://imagenes.elpais.com/resizer/v2/AQSU57ME55DBJJHAOA6ENAJAGI.jpg?auth=9e3b762a62bdc09287aea3c9c31d0bc9df18356b26b81a9b6a6e2ebae2ca763c&width=414)
Türkiye is the third country that sells the most carpets in the world. It has seen rapid growth in recent years in its exports, which have also benefited from the increase in tourism. The country increased exports of the mat by 24% year-on-year in March, according to the Turkish trade data portal. These goods, different from the Persian product, have become Ankara’s star export to Gulf countries, such as Saudi Arabia. Orders for the Turkish variety to the Saudi kingdom jumped from $259,000 (238,399 euros) in 2021 to $63 million (57 million euros) in a single year, according to official statistics.
Since 1979, the Persian rug has become a political pawn, enduring decades of Western embargoes. As a consequence, cheap imitations have flooded the North American market, and now retailers such as Rugvista or Trendcarpet offer a more affordable variety for a hundred euros, a considerable discount compared to the authentic one. Even Ikea, the Swedish furniture giant, now sells its own version of what it calls the ‘oriental rug’.
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