TEHRAN -- The name of Iran is associated with Persian carpet, which is the cultural envoy of the rich civilization of Iran, managing director of Zanjan’s Union for Rural Handmade Carpet Nasser Babakhani said in an interview with the Tehran Times.

Rural hand-woven carpet unions from different parts of Iran took part at the 24th edition of Handmade Carpet Exhibition, which was held from August 23 to 29 at Tehran’s International Permanent Fair Ground.

“The exhibition is a manifestation of the potential market of the Persian carpets and its diversity,” Babakhani added.

The exhibition hosted over 700 participants from different parts of Iran, which welcomed visitors with a wide range of carpets in pattern and material.

“A large number of carpets are offered during the exhibition, which is not very professional in my view,” he said.

Persian carpet is known as a precious rare object around the world and the exhibition of such huge volume of Persian carpets discourage foreign traders , he lamented.

He called on officials to manage the number of participants and allocate some stores to them so that they only bring samples to stands.

“However the exhibition is a great opportunity for producers to have a direct relation with costumers and also to compare their products with other companies,” Babakhani said.

He said such exhibitions lead to the falling of prices and promoting the quality of carpets.

“As an industry, the Persian carpet business can attract traders and agents to Iran as the main market and they are considered as wealthy tourists who have impacts on the Iranian economy as well,” he said.

He expressed hope over increasing exports to the U.S. as one of the main markets of Persian carpet in early 2016.

According to a report published in Boston Globe this week, the U.S. market had made up one-fifth of Iran’s carpet exports. The president of Iran’s National Carpet Center Hamid Kargar said producers in the Islamic republic are already making carpets with Americans in mind and are hopeful that trade will resume next year.

“People in the carpet business have begun to produce carpets suiting the taste of the American market, receiving orders and negotiating with customers,” he said.

“Since 2010, we lost one-fifth of our exports because we were deprived of the U.S. market. Our rivals replaced Iran. However, we expect that Americans will welcome Persian carpets again because of its unique designs and colors.”

Iran exported $330 million in Persian carpets last year. Exports account for two-thirds of Iran’s carpet production, which now stands at more than 53 million square feet a year.

--------------- Gabbeh: Nomad hand woven carpet of Iran

Iranian nomads are the only weavers of Gabbeh and no other country has such kind of carpet, the head of the Tehran branch of Zollanvari Carpets told the Tehran Times.

Payam Mir-Soltan Ahmad called Gabbeh “a unique Persian carpet” which has “a great role to introduce Iranian culture in the world,” he said.

He talked about the interest of foreigners in this kind of Persian carpet, which is modernized in pattern by Zollanvari Carpets.

“We manage some tours for our special costumers to Iran to get introduced with process of Gabbeh weaving and also pay visit to Iran’s (tourist) attractions,” he said.

He announced that the company plans to develop its plan for managing more tours in the near future.

The company has branches in New Jersey, Zurich, Hamburg, Cape Town, Istanbul and Shanghai as well.

According to the Boston Globe, the Islamic republic was once the world’s biggest carpet exporter but the industry has been hampered by the sanctions and competition from cheaper Indian, Pakistani, and Chinese copies of traditional Iranian patterns.

PHOTO: An exquisite silk Persian carpet is on display at the stand of Lorestan’s Union for Rural Handmade Carpet at 24th edition of Handmade Carpet Exhibition (Setareh Behroozi)

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