This past week, the United States officially ended the Iran Sanctions Act, which was the measure banning trade with Iran, and forbidding the import and export of Iranian goods in and out of the U.S.  This act was part of a series of sanctions put into place over the last few years by the U.S. in an attempt to ratchet up pressure on Iran, so that Iran would comply with nuclear inspections and other limitations on its much debated nuclear program.  Now that the U.S. and Iran have reached a nuclear accord, and Iran has ostensibly complied with the restrictions on its nuclear program, the import and export of Iranian goods is going to resume.

At Persian Gallery New York, we deal primarily in antique decorative carpets, classic oriental rugs, and period European tapestries.  While we feature a section of New Reproduction rugs on our website, we do not do any importing of rugs from Iran.  The vast majority of rugs in our inventory were imported to the U.S. decades ago.  Despite the fact that our rugs are antiques, and have not been in or around Iran in decades, their import and export was somehow still part of the embargo, just because of the rugs’ Iranian origin.

This wide ranging embargo caused some difficulties for the antique rug industry, as for the past several years, we were unable to make our classic rugs available to our clientele overseas.  Now that the import and export of antique rugs is resuming with the end of the embargo, it’s a great time for our clients to buy antique rugs, at the same great prices, despite higher demand, whether domestically here in the U.S., or overseas in Europe, Asia, the Middle East, South America, and beyond.

Here in New York, and elsewhere on the East Coast of the U.S., a huge snow storm is expected to arrive some time tonight or tomorrow.  As such, people will likely be off the streets, and nestled safely in their homes.  If you find yourself snowbound at home, sipping some hot chocolate, and thinking of what kind of decor can warm up your home, browse our industry-leading selection of antique Persian carpets!  Many of our rugs are available in our brand new Buy It Now section, or you can visit our Links page to connect to our stores on 1st Dibs, One Kings Lane, and Houzz.  You can also check out our PGNY Outlet, from which you can e-mail or call us with inquiries about how to find the best antique rugs and Persian carpets for your home!