During the past Iranian calendar year (ended March 20), about 3.6 million metric tons of fruits and vegetables worth $2.2 billion were exported, said the President of the National Union of Exporters of Agricultural Products, IRNA reported. The exports consisted of around 1.78 million tons of vegetables worth $760 million, and 1.8 million tons of fruits worth $1.43 billion, explained Seyed-Reza Nourani, adding that vegetable exports show an increase of 55%, but fruit exports indicate a fall of 30% in terms of value, compared with the preceding year. A major problem on the way of exporting agricultural products is the presence of western sanctions (imposed on Iran over its nuclear energy program), which prevents Iranian goods from being directly exported to target countries, obliging traders to resort to re-exporting via a third country.
