By Fateme Torkashvand
In a recent post on X, formerly Twitter, marking National Carpet Day, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi reflected on one of the country’s most enduring symbols: the Persian carpet.
“The Persian carpet is woven from the threads of history—an embodiment of Iranian culture, color, and imagination… Each Persian carpet is an ambassador of Iran’s culture, art, and history, reaching into the hearts of people around the world.”
Araghchi’s words highlighted the profound cultural significance carried by these rugs – objects that, though crafted quietly in artistic workshops across Iran, often find themselves at the center of global decision-making, silently observing the political stage like curious eyes.
A photo feature by the Associated Press vividly captures this contrast. Persian carpets appear beneath the feet in rooms where some of the world’s most important political meetings take place – from the White House to the Élysée Palace, from the gilded halls of the Kremlin to the marble corridors of the United Nations.
These handwoven textiles, steeped in centuries of cultural and artistic tradition, quietly frame moments of international diplomacy – from Washington to Paris to London.
With a hint of irony, Araghchi noted: “Decisions against Iran are often made atop Persian rugs woven in Iran itself.”
Despite decades of sanctions, Iran’s carpet industry continues to flourish and these carpets continue to grace the very spaces where foreign policy is shaped – spaces that sometimes impose those sanctions against the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Their presence speaks to something deeper than politics: the enduring influence of Iranian culture through handicrafts.
Each Persian carpet is a product of both skill and story. Different regions bring unique styles to the loom: Isfahan is renowned for elegant floral motifs, Kurdistan for bold geometric patterns, Qom for fine silk textures, and Baluchestan for tribal symbolism.
Together, they form a visual language that expresses Iran’s cultural diversity and the continuity of its traditions.
These carpets do more than decorate – they host. They serve as the physical foundation for summits, negotiations, and photo opportunities.
The rug that lay beneath Pope Francis and Donald Trump during their meeting in Vatican City on May 24, 2017, is an antique Persian Bidjar.
A Persian Nain carpet was present during King Salman of Saudi Arabia’s meeting with Trump in Riyadh on May 20, 2017, while another Persian silk and wool Nain rug witnessed negotiations between then-Israeli regime president Reuven Rivlin and Trump later that year.
Even the British Embassy in Washington, D.C., has been adorned with magnificent Persian carpets featuring round calligraphy from Persian poetry.
Just this week, as Araghchi shared a photo of his meeting with Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah Sisi on a beautiful Persian carpet at the Egyptian presidential residence, Iran’s Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations Office in Geneva, Ali Bahreini, announced on X that a Persian carpet displayed in a UN building in Geneva since 1935 has been returned to its place in the UN library following renovations.
In this way, Persian carpets are more than cultural artifacts. They are platforms for diplomacy. They carry a unique form of soft power: quiet, beautiful, and enduring. Though silent, they remind the world of Iran’s creative legacy, its ability to connect, communicate, and endure.
Following, or better yet, shaping Iran’s resistance policy, the Persian carpet not only symbolizes Iran’s presence on the global stage but also proudly displays its historical dignity and intellectual beauty.
From weavers in small villages to presidents in palace halls, the Persian carpet links lives and nations. It tells a story that politics cannot erase, a story woven from the warp and weft of culture, art, intellect, and dignity.
