Send Rug from Iran to U.S. or Canada?
 

Hello!

I have been longing to visit Iran for years, and I believe it's finally happening in 2019! I have dual-citizenship in Italy and US, so I will be traveling with my Italian passport for about three weeks in Iran(booking a tour for part of my journey.) My question follows: I'm probably going to purchase some lovely, authentic furnishings while I'm traveling. I know that an embargo was recently re-instated in the U.S. a couple months ago (after having been temporarily lifted), so it's hard/impossible/illegal to send back carpets from Iran to the U.S. Am I correct in that assumption on the tourist/personal level - or does that just apply to companies/businesses buying big orders? Also, if it is illegal to send parcels from Iran to the U.S., does anyone know if I can send goods from Iran to Canada, to my friend in Vancouver? Thank you very much for any help or insights you have!

Read this - https://help.cbp.gov/app/answers/det...iranian-origin

Note the language covers rugs "of Iranian origin," which presumably would include importing Persian rugs from anywhere, including Canada. Now how some customs person at a US border crossing would know that a rug is from Iran instead of Pakistan or a Belgian knock-off, who knows?

However, I'll say this. Having visited Iran (albeit a long time ago) and having been a rug aficionado at the time, what I learned was that carpets were much more expensive in Iran than they were in, say, London or the US. There were (are?) parts of commercial banks in Iran where people stored their rugs (in climate-controlled conditions) in order to protect their value. I was going to buy a rug while I was there but upon doing the numbers (including the shipping costs) I decided against it, and found comparable rugs (knot count, etc.) for cheaper prices back home.

Now I don't know if that's still the case, but if you find some screaming deal I'd probably have it sent to your Canadian friend, then import it to the US later.