Qatar and Iran sign world's largest saffron deal

Saffron

Qatar and Iran on Monday signed a $300m agreement to supply about 200 tons of Iranian saffron to Qatar in what is the world's largest deal of such nature, the Iranian News Agency "IRNA" reported.

According to IRNA, the agreement was signed during a meeting between the Minister of Finance, HE Ali bin Ahmed al-Kuwari, and Iran's Ambassador to Doha, Hamidreza Dehghani.

Under the terms of the deal, the first shipment is expected to be delivered to Qatar on October 1.

Iran ranks first in the world in the production of saffron, followed by India and Afghanistan. 

Saffron is called "red gold," and it is the most expensive spice in the world due to the nature of its harvest and production process.