Iranian boycott of pistachio praised as a way to leave more nuts for exporting

In this Sunday, March 31, 2013 photo, an Iranian shopkeeper sells pistachios, at his shop in western Tehran, Iran. Pistachios are Iran’s top non-oil export and provide work for hundreds of thousands of people. Still, Iranian authorities are backing the boycott. They laud it as a way to decrease domestic pistachio consumption and leave more nuts for exporting, which has become an increasingly important pipeline for foreign revenue as sanctions squeeze Iran’s oil and gas sales.

In this Sunday, March 31, 2013 photo, Pistachios are seen at a nut shop in western Tehran, Iran. <AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi>