Why Iran’s ‘Red Gold’ Is So Prized

International sanctions against Iran were lifted this week, but there are still many restrictions on trade between Iran and the United States. A number of Iranian products will be allowed in though, including caviar, carpets and saffron.

Eighty percent of saffron comes from Iran. As the most expensive spice in the world, it has been called the country’s “red gold.”

But there are some problems with the saffron trade. The label on the spice’s origin is often false. The saffron itself is often diluted or replaced with something else entirely. Now there’s a movement called “saffrononics” trying to improve how saffron is grown and traded.

Here & Now‘s Robin Young talks with Pat Heslop-Harrison, a professor of genetics at the University of Leicester, about the changes in the saffron trade.