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US sanctions on Iran has already had far reaching effects. In the German port city of Hamburg, Speicherstadt is home to the largest warehouse area in the world.
Colorful Iranian carpets adorn many places at the market. Just a few years ago there were 200 companies here dealing in Iranian carpets. Now, there are only 57.
"We’ve been under sanctions for 35 years but the new sanctions of last week are the worst for Iran itself and for here," says Tblis, a carpet trader. "We feel it here because the prices fluctuate."
"The expensive carpets keep going up in prices and the cheap ones keep going down. I used to send most of my carpets to Iran and rugs to the US, but the last cargo was in July."
Others tell similar stories. Muhammad Reza Nobari has been a carpet businessman for 50 years. However, he says, his business has still been badly affected by the sanctions and his customers are now looking elsewhere such as India, Pakistan and China.
"This is a rug from Bejar as an example. I always say that it doesn’t matter where a rug or carpet comes from in Iran, each one has its own soul and personality," says Nobari.
"In Iran we’re multicultural. This one was made in Kurdistan, woven in Bejar. The Kurds are a hardworking and resilient people. No matter what you do to this rug it will stay the same," he adds.
The European Union has promised to shield its companies from US sanctions, as it hopes to salvage the Iran nuclear deal.
In May, US President Donald Trump withdrew from the 2015 nuclear accord, announcing a raft of new sanctions to be imposed on Iran in the coming months.
Iran is the biggest carpet exporter in the world, selling to 80 countries. In the US, Persian rugs are sold for between $10,000 for a smaller rug and $100,000 or even twice as much for a fine, large rug, according to the Iran National Carpet Center.
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