Since Russia invaded Ukraine in February this year, Iranian tour guide Ali’s business has boomed. But where once he hosted Russian tourists interested in Persian art, food, and culture, now he welcomes businesspeople, Financial Times reports from Tehran.

 Last month alone, Ali, an entrepreneur who does not want his full name published, brought 160 Russians, mostly businesspeople, to Tehran, up from the 40 mostly Russian tourists he brought in a typical month before the pandemic, the daily reported.
“Russian businessmen used to visit Iran to sell products while looking down on Iranian businesses. But now, in an eye-catching shift, they are looking to buy Iranian products,” said Ali.
He takes them to companies around the Iranian capital and introduces them to their Tehran counterparts. With western consumer goods companies curtailing trade with Moscow, his clients were surprised and interested to see Apple mobile phones widely available in Iran, Ali said.
“Russians are far behind Iranians in terms of connections and access to the world’s black markets to buy European- and American-made parts and goods,” Ali said.