Lift Embargo: Iranian Rug Trade to Resume
For the entirety of my life, including but not necessarily limited to my career in the world of rugs, the position of the United States toward Iran has shifted numerous times. Waffling somewhere between a cozy unorthodox trade arrangement leading to unpunished imperialistic hubris (Iran-Contra) and the ostracization of an all-of-sudden-we-cannot-talk-to-you-because-lame-reason now and then pariah State, the treatment of the Islamic Republic of Iran by the West can best be described as a school yard pissing contest where the later wins because it has managed to curtail the supply of fluids to the former. The Iranian embargo has done far more to foment resentment toward the West than to encourage popular (read: acceptable to the West) change, and overall has been decidedly unkind to the people of Iran and by extension the Iranian carpet weaving industry. With the recent announcement of the deal struck between Western powers and the Government of Iran however, it once again appears as though trade of Iranian made carpets will resume. Rug and Carpet dealers rejoice!