Covid 19: New Zealand embassy in Iran receives Ardern carpet gift praising pandemic response

Name: Focus: Covid Outbreak | Saturday 19th March Wrap
Uploaded: 2022-03-19T14:59:25+13:00
Description: March 19 2022 Ten more people have died and there are 18,514 new cases of Covid-19 in the community today.

NZ Herald

18 Mar, 2022 08:56 PM2 mins to read

March 19 2022 Ten more people have died and there are 18,514 new cases of Covid-19 in the community today.

The New Zealand embassy in Iran has received a hand-woven carpet on behalf of Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern to commemorate the way the country has handled the Covid-19 pandemic.

The carpet was gifted by Iranians Zohreh Solhdoust and Mahmoud Amanpour and it includes a hand-woven image of Ardern.

The piece of tapestry was woven by Solhdoust and took about five months to complete.

It includes 24,000 knots, 400 rows, 149 colours - of which 15 are silk, and 134 are New Zealand merino wool.

The carpet also features a message to the New Zealand Government: "Congratulations for the best Covid-19 control all round the world".

New Zealand’s embassy in Iran has received this quite incredible carpet celebrating the Covid response. pic.twitter.com/eSbVqiQubJ
— Thomas Coughlan (@coughlthom) March 18, 2022

On social media, while no one questioned the skill involved in creating the piece, opinions on the design were a bit more divided.

The hand-woven tapestry took five months to complete. Photo / Twitter

Golriz Ghahraman, Iranian-born Green Party MP, wrote: "Omg. It's extremely restrained of you to present this without comment. The people of Iran, usually known for our beautiful carpet making, thank you (and are gutted about this abomination)."

"The yahoo email address is such a power move," someone else commented.

History is so important.

Iran; a country world renowned for their carpet craftsmanship since 400 BC.

Aotearoa; a country that gifted an all-wool broadloom carpet to Prince Charles and Diana for their wedding.
— DouglasStreet (@DouglasSt66) March 18, 2022

The carpet is one of a number of gifts the Prime Minister has received in the past couple of years.

According to the 2021 Register of Pecuniary and Other Specified Interests of Members of Parliament, the latest public register of gifts received by MPs, Ardern received a Christmas gift hamper from the Ambassador of Cuba, tickets to the New Zealand vs Australia Bledisloe Cup test, tickets to a New Zealand vs India cricket match and tickets to Elton John's concert.