By bne Tehran bureau Iran exported $13mn worth of Persian rugs during the initial four months of the current Iranian calendar year (March 20 – July 21), according to the head of the National Carpet Industries Centre, Mohammadreza Zare, semi-official YJC reported on August 14. The much-loved and well-known handwoven rug industry has been on a downward trajectory for several years, mainly due to sanctions, a change in foreign currency rules at home and cheaper imitations from other countries, including China. A Tehran Chamber of Commerce report revealed that Iran’s global market share for handwo…