All his life, Iranian Mohammad Ashkiyoun has sold Persian carpets. And now? Caught between sanctions, war, and blocked supply routes, he is struggling to keep both his family and his business together.By Sebastian Astner and Anna Lea Jakobs, Düsseldorf Yesterday, Mohammad Ashkiyoun had already sent an SMS to his brother. Now his phone vibrates; he […]

The established Iranian company Ashkiyoun is entering the European and international markets with its new brand Shahdad, offering hand-knotted carpets of very high quality produced according to customer specifications. The designs show influences ranging from lightly to heavily modern. From October to December Shahdad presented a selection of its carpets at Schick-Stephan Teppiche & Trends, […]

Continuing the tradition With the end of the US and Canadian embargoes on Iranian rugs, Lucy Upward, editor of HALI’s sister publication Cover, pinpoints the best rugs being made in Iran today that are at the forefront of Iran’s reintroduction to the international market The 2010 US embargo on the import of Iranian goods including […]

Underlining quality Iran is world renowned for the exceptional quality of its finest handmade carpets, a subject little known to HALI’s Editor Ben Evans , until a recent award given to Ashkiyoun provided him with an ideal point of orientation The intricacies of the Iranian rug industry are too complex for most outsiders to understand. […]