TEHRAN--The techniques and skills of broom weaving have been registered on the National Intangible Cultural Heritage list to identify, introduce, document and protect this craft, said Alireza Izadi, director general for the registration and preservation of cultural heritage at Iran’s Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Tourism, and Handicrafts.

He told IRNA that making broom can be considered a branch of handicrafts, but its indigenous skills and knowledge are considered examples of intangible cultural heritage. 
Izadi stated that this skill is common in any region that has reedbeds or plants suitable for broom weaving. 

He added that broom weaving is more well-known in the northern provinces of Gilan and Mazandaran, South and North Khorasan provinces, Fars (especially the villages around Neyriz and Arsanjan), Kerman and Sistan-Baluchestan, Isfahan and Chaharmahal-Bakhtiari provinces (in areas where there are reedbeds).

Izadi clarified that the broom weaving in Iran has a long history and is completely indigenous. “In the past, due to the abundance of reedbeds and sof plants, weaving simple brooms from plant stems was a common activity in the rural settlements. With the development of agriculture and the establishment of villages, preparing brooms from reeds, sof, and thin branches of trees became a complementary profession to agriculture, and many villagers engaged in broom weaving during the low agricultural seasons.”

He said: “Depending on the type of native plants, different styles of broom weaving were formed. For example, in Khorasan Razavi: hard and clustered reed brooms, and in the south and southeast: branch and combined brooms are woven.”

Izadi clarified that until the mid-14th solar century, broom weaving was a significant source of income in some villages and was usually done as a home-based handicraft without an official workshop and with simple tools.

With arrival of industrial brooms, the amount of traditional production decreased, but due to its reasonable price, durability, and native identity, many villages have still maintained this profession, and in some areas, it is introduced as a plant craft product. 

He noted that broom weaving is rooted in the old requirements of rural life and has continued to this day as a lasting tradition and local skill.

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