Tehran, Iran, Oct. 27--Iran's painstakingly woven carpets are surrendering their global marketshare to foreign copies from the likes of India and China, a trend fomenting discontent among Tehran's politically powerful market traders, according to Philly.com.
In the labyrinthine bazaar, carpet sellers express outrage that bogus wares are being marketed as Persian carpets.
"These cannot be called Persian carpets. Real quality can only come from Iranian tribal handicraft," said Morteza, 23, who gave up his chemistry degree to sell carpets.
"People seem happy to buy machine-made, city-made carpets rather than pay for something that has taken two years to make by hand," he continued.
Ali Sanaei, a trade specialist at Isfahan University, says Asian rivals are eating into one of Iran's most emblematic industries.
"Nepal, India, Pakistan and China have turned into key rivals for Iranian exporters by exploiting cheap labor and copying Iranian designs," he told the official IRNA news agency.
A customs report found that handwoven-carpet exports had slipped 4.2 percent recently.
Sanaei said Iran had lost 50 percent of its marketshare from 1995 to 2000.
According to Iran's Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Mines, handwoven carpets are still the second-most-valuable export after oil, bringing in $570 million a year in the late 1990s.
In the bazaar, Morteza showed off his collection of crimson Bokhara rugs with their geometrical patterns, and the intricate knot-work of his finest Heriz carpets.
The bazaaris are a political force to be reckoned with in Iran, their small market stalls often the humble public face of large import and export enterprises.
Some Iranians quip that the Shah, toppled in the Islamic revolution in 1979, was so incensed by their power that he planned to smash a road through the bazaar.
Iran is trying to wean itself off dependence on oil, so vulnerable to price fluctuations, and has said non-oil exports, such as carpets and pistachios, should be made a priority.
