IRNA - Iranian companies, which trade saffron from Afghanistan, return foreign exchange from exporting it to Iran, an official of the Ministry of Agriculture Jihad Department of Medical Plants said.

'According to statistics, Iran still ranks 1st in producing and exporting saffron while Afghanistan, India and Spain are among other saffron producers which are at other ranks,' Hussein Zeinali added on Sunday.

Iran has facilities and technology for packaging and branding, but there has been no success because of Iran's political conditions and lack of credit, he asserted.

The Agriculture Ministry official said, 'The government is expected to provide the conditions for producing saffron with Iranian worldwide brands by improving political relations, allocating the research budget, forming a chain of production and forming an international center for saffron production.'