Deputy Head of Iran’s Carpet Center for Economic Affairs Mohammad Mehdi Farshchi said Iran exported $270 million worth of hand-woven carpets during the 8 months of the current Iranian year.

Speaking during a local ceremony in Qazvin on Monday night, Farshchi said the figure shows a 31% hike compared with the similar period of a year before.

Iran exported $290 million hand-woven carpet in 2016, he said, adding the figure rose to $359 million in 2016, rising by 3 percent in terms of weight and and 23 percent in terms of value.

He added 29 countries are the main buyers of Iran’s handmade carpets, among them are 13 Asian, 11 European, 4 Americans and 1 African countries.

Japan, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, France, Britain, the UAE, Kuwait, Lebanon and Qatar are traditional markets for the luxury Iranian product.

He underlined that $141 million worth of carpets were exported to the Asian countries.

Iran’s carpet exports were hit hard by sanctions imposed on the country over its nuclear program. The United States—the biggest importer of Iran’s handmade rugs—banned the import of Iranian carpets, among other products, in September 2010. / Mehr news /