Iran’s Medicinal Herb Exports Ups: Official

Iran’s exports of medicinal herbs in the nine-month period of March 21-December 21, 2019 generated US$450 million, announced a Deputy Agricultural Jihad Minister. According to Hossein Zeinli, the country also recorded a 37% growth in the export of by-products of medicinal plants over the past two years, reported Mehr News Agency. Last year, 20,000 hectares of land were cultivated for medicinal plants, he added. “Iran is exclusively home to 1,728 species of medicinal plants,” he said. He noted that“US$200 million worth of these exports belonged to saffron.”

A member of the Iranian Parliament’s Economic Committee said in December 2019 that the plan to establish the Organization of Saffron Exporting Countries (OSEC) will change the country’s stock market into the main reference for price of saffron in the world.

Hassan Hosseini-Shahroudi said it is not good for Iran to take no action while other countries make billions of dollars trading Iranian saffron. Saffron is being offered in the Tehran Stock Exchange to balance the Iranian market so that the real price of saffron becomes clear for foreigners. He added that Iran should support the establishment of OSEC because it can provide Iran, which produced 90% of the saffron in the world, with the chance to show its capacity.

Iran has been selling its saffron in bulk for years while other countries package the red gold of Iran and sell it, so Iran’s position has been hurt in the market, he said. Hosseini-Shahroudi said that with regard to the share of Iran in the cultivation of saffron, it should have the highest position in the world. - Iran Daily