Financial Tribune- Iran accounts for 29% of global exports of hand-woven carpets, the head of Iran Hand-Woven Carpet Producers’ Cooperatives Union, Abdollah Bahrami, said.

The country exported about $167 million worth of hand-woven carpets to 80 countries during the seven months to October 21, the head of Iran’s National Carpet Center was quoted as saying by IRNA. “The biggest customer of Iranian hand-woven carpets over the period was the United States with $42 million worth of purchase,” Hamid Kargar said.

The US, traditionally the biggest buyer of Iranian rugs, imposed a ban on carpet imports from the Islamic Republic, among other products, in September 2010, but has lately reopened its market after the removal of nuclear sanctions against Iran. Sanctions were lifted in January, after Iran agreed to limit the scope of its nuclear program.