TEHRAN — Iran plans to establish a dedicated handicrafts township in Mashhad as a pilot project that could eventually be replicated across the country, Minister of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts Seyyed Reza Salehi-Amiri said on Friday.

Salehi-Amiri made the announcement at a specialized meeting with tourism and handicrafts investors in Khorasan Razavi province, attended by Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, Minister of Economic Affairs and Finance Seyyed Ali Madani-Zadeh Khorasan Razavi Governor-General Gholam-Hossein Mozaffari, Ali-Asghar Shalbafian, head of the Investment and Economic Affairs Center of the Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts, the head of the Mashhad Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture, and a number of investors and senior officials.

The tourism minister described Khorasan Razavi as one of Iran’s leading provinces in terms of tourism potential and said the scale of investment already made or under way in the sector demonstrated its economic and employment-generating capacity.

“About 50,000 jobs have been created as a result of these capacities and investments,” Salehi-Amiri said, adding that about 180,000 jobs in Mashhad and Khorasan Razavi are connected to tourism.

He said the combination of tourism assets, investment and employment had given the province a prominent position in Iran’s tourism economy.

Turning to handicrafts, Salehi-Amiri said the ministry was pursuing the creation of a handicrafts township in Mashhad that would serve as a national pilot.

“The handicrafts township in Mashhad must be established and considered as a national pilot so that afterward we can develop this model in other provinces,” he said.

The proposed complex, he added, is intended to provide a structured setting in which artisans, handicrafts practitioners and other sectoral capacities can be brought together and receive the necessary support.

The minister said Mashhad’s existing capabilities could provide the basis for developing a national model for handicrafts.

“We do not have this volume of capacity in all parts of the country,” he said, describing Mashhad and Khorasan Razavi as having a particularly strong position in the handicrafts sector.

Salehi-Amiri said Iran currently has 299 active handicrafts fields, compared with about 400 identified worldwide, while Khorasan Razavi has 90 active handicrafts fields.

The proposed township is intended to strengthen the sector’s production and distribution chain, provide greater support for artisans and help expand markets for handicrafts, according to the minister.

During a visit to Isfahan in June, Salehi-Amiri said the government would pursue a program to expand domestic and international markets for handicrafts, increase exports, support artisans and develop a complete value chain for the sector, with Isfahan identified as a central hub for future growth. He described Isfahan’s handicrafts as “a symbol of Iran’s soft power,” saying the sector represented not only artistic traditions but also culture, employment, livelihoods and lifestyle.

Available official data cited by Iranian cultural heritage officials show that Iran exported about $223 million worth of handicrafts in the Iranian calendar year that ended on March 20, 2025, while a roughly similar amount was estimated to have left the country informally through travelers. Around 7,000 handicrafts shops operate nationwide, alongside permanent and temporary bazaars, while online platforms have emerged as increasingly important sales channels.

Iran has 299 recognized handicrafts branches classified into 18 groups and has 14 cities and three villages internationally registered for handicrafts**, according to ministry figures.

Salehi-Amiri’s remarks also placed the proposed handicrafts township within the broader development of tourism infrastructure in Khorasan Razavi province.

He said the province’s substantial volume of completed and ongoing tourism investment reflected the sector’s capacity to generate employment and economic activity. He called for the province’s tourism and handicrafts development to be based on its actual cultural and economic advantages, investment potential and employment capacity.

The minister said specialized infrastructure, including a dedicated handicrafts township, could help create a more integrated chain extending from production to presentation, sales and market development.

The initiative would therefore seek to bring together handicrafts production and supporting activities in one location while giving artisans greater access to institutional support and markets.

AM