Pistachio accounts for 10% of Iran’s non-oil exports, a board member of National Institute of Generic Engineering and Biotechnology said. Seyyed Mehdi Seyyedi added that Iran was the world’s top pistachio exporter last year, having sold 180,000 tons of the delicacy worth $1.5 billion to 70 countries. Hong Kong and the European Union were the main export destinations for Iranian pistachio. Spain, Australia, the UAE, Pakistan, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, Ukraine, Turkey, Singapore, Chile, Serbia, Iraq, Russia, Qatar, Kuwait, Lebanon, Poland, Malaysia, Egypt and India are also traditional customers. Pistachio is Iran’s 16th biggest export commodity.
