World’s Most Expensive Spice Faces Supply Crisis Amid Iran Conflict
WANA (May 02) – The war against Iran has shaken the global saffron market, disrupting the supply of the world’s most expensive spice.
As regional tensions and the consequences of conflict continue to cast a shadow over international markets, the American magazine Foreign Policy reported that these developments have significantly disrupted the supply of saffron, making it increasingly difficult for many countries to access the product.
Iran is the world’s largest producer of saffron and holds the dominant share of its global exports. As a result, any disruption to Iran’s production, transportation, or export of saffron has a direct impact on prices and the global supply chain.
In a report titled “The Last Breaths of Saffron,” the publication pointed to the growing difficulty of supplying international markets with the spice, identifying war and the resulting instability as key drivers of the current crisis.
Within Iran’s domestic market, the price of saffron is now estimated at between 160 million and 200 million tomans (between 1,000 and 1,250 dollars) per kilogram—an indication of the combined pressures of reduced supply, rising production costs, and export restrictions.
Meanwhile, the Vice President of Iran’s National Saffron Council stated that restrictions on international internet access have also dealt a significant blow to exports.
According to him, many exporters have lost the ability to effectively communicate with foreign clients or coordinate timely shipments due to disruptions in online connectivity.
