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TEHRAN, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) -- Iran's pistachio exports showed 20 percent year-on-year increase in the first six months of the current Iranian year starting on March 21, Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA) reported on Sunday.
Iran has exported 40, 000 tons of pistachios worth 381 million U.S. dollars to 62 countries in this period, the report said.
Iran expects to raise annual pistachio production to 170,000 tons by 2017, with about 80 percent exported, ISNA quoted Farhad Agah from Iran's Pistachio Association as saying.
Exports of pistachios fell in the previous Iranian year due to the financial and banking sanctions imposed by the United States and its allies over Tehran's nuclear program.
Iran and world powers reached a deal in July 2015, which requires the Islamic republic to significantly reduce its nuclear activities in return for the ease of international sanctions.
Figures show pistachio accounts for two percent of Iran's total exports, and 54 percent of global pistachio exports come from Iran.
