ALEXANDER THE GREAT stewed in it in the bath, believing that it helped heal wounds. Roman newly-weds sprinkled it on their beds, hoping for a bit of arousal. Today saffron is mainly used to season and colour dishes such as paella. But the spice, made of the dried stigmas of the saffron crocus (pictured), is still highly valued. In November a kilo of saffron from Iran, which produces over 90% of the world’s supply, cost $1,400, says an importer in Britain.
Yet Iranians in the saffron business are struggling. A recent jump in the price has been driven by increasing demand following the shock of the pandemic—but also by drought and rising shipping and labour costs (it takes many hours of picking and stripping to produce a single kilo). Then there are America’s sanctions, which aim to cut Iran off from the world economy. To get around them, Iranian saffron traders often use non-Iranian middlemen, opaque supply chains and complicated payment procedures.
A kilo of saffron might thus move by courier from Khorasan, the region that produces most of Iran’s crop, to Dubai or Spain, where all references to Iran are scrubbed before it is shipped onwards. Plenty of funny business can occur along the way. Sometimes Iranian saffron is mixed with flower debris or other spices to increase its weight. In February the Spanish police seized 400kg of saffron threads from a smuggling ring that allegedly imported Iranian stuff, added cheaper ingredients and then sold it as a much-beloved variety from La Mancha (which has “protected designation of origin” status).
This may only be the tip of the stigma, says Burkhard Mühl of Europol, the EU's police agency. A recent study commissioned by the EU found that 11% of saffron for sale within the bloc may be counterfeit. Studies by the French government suggest a higher figure.
All of this causes problems for honest Iranian traders. “I am having to try harder to gain my customers’ trust,” says Vahid Jafari, an exporter who has just come off a video call with a Vietnamese client. “They told me they were worried about receiving fake saffron.” Other customers are afraid that if they buy Iranian saffron, even through middlemen, they will be blacklisted by America. Banks are nervous about handling such transactions. The importer in Britain says he has had accounts in Dubai and Britain closed. “Every six months Barclays [a British bank] gets in touch with me to ask if I am doing business with Iran,” he says. “I have to lie to them.”
It hasn’t always been so hard. Trading was made easier in 2015, when Iran agreed to limit its nuclear activities in exchange for the lifting of many international sanctions. But just three years later Donald Trump, then president, pulled America out of the deal and reimposed sanctions. Talks to restore it are taking place in Vienna, giving traders a thread of hope—although progress has been scant. Says a dealer based in Tehran, “If you can export saffron from Iran nowadays, you’re a superman.”