An image of a ‘Produced in Iran’ fruit juice brand aboard a Qatar Airways flight might not appear at all exciting but to Iranians discussing the trade opportunities generated for the Islamic Republic by the blockading of Qatar it has aroused quite a lot of interest.

Shot by an eagle-eyed passenger who on August 27 uploaded it to social media on a Telegram messenger account dubbed Aerocenter, the image of in-flight Iranian-made Mihan concentrated orange juice sparked a lot of discussion over just how extensive Iran’s trade incursions into the tiny, gas-rich peninsular state are becoming.

The land, sea and air blockade of Qatar over claimed links to terrorist organisations in the Middle East and its closeness to Tehran is being led by fellow Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) members Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates and is being backed by nations including Egypt. Iran and Turkey, two countries which have allied themselves with the Qataris in the dispute, have been striving to replace products that can no long reach Iran given the stand-off. They have also allowed blocked Qatari Airways flights to reroute via their airspace.

Until lately, it was thought that in terms of bulk purchases Qatar was buying only Iranian fruit and vegetables, but according to a recent article Financial Tribune article Iran is selling Qatar a wide range of fast-moving consumer goods and various other products.

In all, over the past five Persian calendar months, Iran exported 737,500 tonnes of non-oil items to the Persian Gulf monarchy worth more than $67.5mn, according to the newspaper’s report. The daily added that its reporter had seen a report from the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration (IRICA) detailing how Iran has exported thousands of new items that are now reaching Qatari shopping bags. Latest monthly data indicates that exports to Qatar are now running at a rate at least quadruple that which was seen a year ago.

Predictable items including fruit and vegetables were the biggest growth areas for Iran, but products including pharmaceuticals and shisha pipes are also making their way to the state that faces Iran over the Gulf.

The Qataris restored full diplomatic relations with Iran on August 26 by sending their ambassador back to Tehran. He was recalled 20 months’ ago to protest against the ransacking of Saudi Arabia’s missions in Iran by demonstrators enraged by Riyadh’s execution of a Shia Muslim cleric.

The trade picture might thus become even brighter but a big negative in the picture is that due to the dated structure of Iran’s shipping industry and poor product development, many Qataris often opt for better quality, but more expensive Turkish products instead of Iranian alternatives.

Stiff competition from Turkey
One female expat resident in Doha who spoke with bne INTELLINEWS said the number of Iranian products on supermarket shelves is greatly outstripped by Turkish offers.

“For us, who are from Europe, we expect European-quality products, and Turkish companies seem to be better equipped to handle our needs,” she said.

She added: “I buy Turkish milk, to be honest, and some of the fruit we have seen from Iran seems to be badly damaged.”

However, that sentiment was not echoed in Tehran when we spoke with one product developer. He said that several Iranian companies are only now beginning to look at the Qatari market. “We were contacted this week by a hospital supplier in Doha who was interested in our medical products… but so far we’ve never dealt with any Persian Gulf countries so we don’t know how to proceed,” he said.

To add to the confusion, Iran’s Trade Promotion Agency recently stated that any Iranian company wishing to trade with Doha needs a specific export permit. The move followed a rush of low-quality products piling up at southern ports.

The agency is planning to hold an Iranian Exclusive Food Exhibition in the small kingdom of Qatar on September 10-13.

If the current official export numbers are anything to go by, Iran is likely ironing out its kinks in its product arsenal before mounting a second, more organised assault on buyers in Qatar.