Sanctions against exports of Iranian carpet may be lifted in the second half of 2014, the director of the National Carpet Center director of announced on Sunday.
Mohammad Baqer Alikhani added that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has negotiated with the 5+1 group t lift the sanction in the second half of the current year, the Mehr News agency reported.
Sanctions against exports of Iranian carpets had been imposed directly by the U.S., he noted.
In September 2013, National Carpet Center’s Deputy Director Mojtaba Feizollahi said that Russia, Malaysia, South Africa, and China currently buy Iranian carpets.
He also said that the center was planning to export carpets to other countries, including Qatar and the UAE.
Iran exports carpets to at least 70 world countries.
There is an estimated population of 1.2 million carpet weavers in Iran, producing carpets for domestic and international markets.
The value of exported handmade carpets across the world reached $1.35 billion last year, out of which the value of Iranian carpets amounted to $427 million.
