Widespread Smuggling of Afghan Carpets into Iran

TEHRAN (Iran News) Morteza Haji Aghamiri, who leads the commission, said in a televised interview that large quantities of Afghan carpets are currently being smuggled openly across Iran’s eastern borders and are widely available in local markets.

“The issue of Afghan carpet smuggling is already causing significant problems in various markets,” Aghamiri said. “We in the private sector, in coordination with government bodies such as the Headquarters for Combating the Smuggling of Goods and Currency, are actively working to address this problem.”

Beyond smuggling, Aghamiri emphasized that the most urgent demand from weavers and handicraft artisans across the country is access to insurance.

“Wherever I travel in my capacity as a member of the Chamber’s Board and the head of this commission, the number-one request from artisans is insurance coverage,” he noted.

He criticized both the government and the parliament for failing to allocate funds in annual budgets to address this basic need, saying:

“Insurance is a fundamental citizen right, yet it’s consistently neglected by both lawmakers and the administration.”

Some lawmakers, according to Aghamiri, oppose the idea of expanding insurance to artisans, claiming it would increase government expenditures. He refuted this claim:

“In fact, investing in insurance for these workers would reduce government costs in the long run. If just one job is lost, creating a new position in industry would cost the government roughly 20 billion rials (about $40,000). Not providing insurance only accelerates rural-to-urban migration, compounding social challenges.”

Aghamiri also highlighted another regulatory hurdle: the inability to re-import used Iranian carpets from foreign markets due to customs regulations. Under Note 1 of Article 121 in Iran’s Executive Customs Law, returning Iranian goods without paying customs duties is only permitted if the item is unused and hasn’t undergone repairs.

“This rule prevents us from retrieving and refurbishing old Iranian carpets that are stockpiled in European markets where prices have plummeted. We could otherwise restore them in Iran and re-export them to new markets,” he explained.

This restriction has also taken a toll on skilled carpet restorers in Iran, many of whom are forced to migrate to Pakistan or Turkey, where they live under subpar conditions just to sustain themselves.

“We’re not just losing a product — we’re losing valuable human capital and traditional expertise,” Aghamiri warned.