TEHRAN—The World Crafts Council has recently registered Kashan and Dezful on its list of global cities of handicrafts.

The World Crafts Council has added two more Iranian cities to its coveted list of world craft cities, IRNA quoted the Iranian tourism minister as saying on Wednesday.

“Dezful was registered as the world city of Kapu-weaving (or Kapu-bafi, a kind of coiled wicker using leaflets of palm trees) and Kashan as the world city of traditional textiles by the World Crafts Council,” Ezzatollah Zarghami said.

The minister underlined that “global registration of Dezful and Kashan carries not just prestige but responsibility.”

“Handicrafts constitute a vital pillar of our cultural economy, and we must rectify the oversights of the past,” Zarghami noted.

By the inclusion of Dezful and Kashan on the prestigious list, a total of 13 cities and three villages in Iran have been registered as “world cities” across various handicraft categories.

Based on available data, the value of Iran’s handicraft exports stood at $400 million during the first ten months of the past Iranian calendar year 1401 (Mar. 21, 2022 – Jan. 20, 2023). Compared with the same period a year earlier, the figure represents some 30 percent growth, deputy tourism Maryam Jalali Dehkordi said.

Iranian handicrafts have a high capacity for export, which can be realized through the creation of special holding companies, she said. Iran exported some $320 million worth of handicrafts during the year 1400, the official added. Iraq, Afghanistan, Germany, the United States, and the coastal states of the Persian Gulf are among the countries that traditionally import ceramics, porcelain, hand-woven clothing, personal jewelry, and semi-precious stones from Iran.

The World Crafts Council is a non-profit, non-governmental organization that was founded in 1964 to promote fellowship, foster economic development through income-generating craft-related activities, and organize exchange programs, workshops, conferences, and exhibitions.

The UNESCO-affiliated organization has established five branches in Africa, Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America, and North America.

AFM