Iran’s beautiful, patterned and handmade carpets are losing a multi-million dollar market. David Lotfollahi, a carpet businessman says he cannot order the making of carpets anymore because they cannot be exported to outside the country anymore. Many carpet makers too have quit their jobs.
Many rely on weaving carpets for a living, especially in rural and Kurdish areas where there are no other job opportunities or major industries. The United States imported $126 million worth of Iranian carpets last year. That may not seem like a big number but the sanctions will have a severe impact on a market like that.
American businessmen now seem to be turning elsewhere for carpet imports.
The sanctions do not affect the carpet market alone. They cause the disappearance of something that is associated with Iran and the culture and identity of its people.
In the first six months of this year the US exported $60 million worth of goods to Iran and imported $35 million in return.
from Rudaw https://ift.tt/2wcD8U2
via Defense News
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