hahahahaha lmao. He's a riot. "I am Dr. Khosrow Sobhe". I know of him indirectly in the business, only heard very good things.
He does make some great points. I have heard sanctions may have an affect on the rug trade. He does make some good points. It's important to remember there really is such a thing as a black market for Oriental Rugs just as he says. Speaking to other importers, I literally had heard of cases where robbers would come into the homes of weavers, cut nearly completed rugs off the looms, finish them, and make the rugs vanish into undocumented existence. Other times the rugs would just be taken from warehouses where they were being dried after sheering and washing. Many of these stolen undocumented rugs would get distributed through the ports of Dubai, and eventually make their way to markets around the world. Although this happens infrequently, it is more common than one would expect. Imagine that though - literally months and months of work just taken out from under your feet. Often a good deal of the money received from weaving goes into reinvesting into additional materials for the next rug.
One of my favorite entries he's made is the
Mothball Dispute