Iran's Internet Shutdown Means A Boon For Saffron Business In Afghanistan

Iran supplies about 90 percent of the world's saffron - one of the most valuable agricultural products by weight, with a global market worth some $1.6 billion. But since Iranian authorities shut down Internet access at the start of the war two months ago, growers have been cut off from their usual clients in Europe and China. That has meant a windfall for Afghan saffron dealers, who have been buying up supplies from across the border in Iran, often in under-the-table deals.