Iranian Jews, Bijan Barchorderi, a restaurant owner (left); and Isaac Simanian, a merchant, sell Persian specialties at the Levinsky Market in south Tel Aviv, January 22, 2026. (Sharon Wrobel/ The Times of Israel)

By SHARON WROBEL 

The Times of Israel

Born and raised in Tehran, Iran, Bijan Barchorderi was sent to Israel at the age of 17 to work on a kibbutz. He is still waiting to return to his former home.

Barchorderi left Iran a few years before the 1979 Islamic Revolution that swept the country and turned it into a closed theocracy. Now 65, he once again has a glimmer of hope of returning, at least to visit, kindled by the recent protest movement that brought tens of thousands of his former countrymen to push for an end to the ayatollah regime. But for most of his time here, he has been resigned to the fact that Tehran might as well be on the moon.

A decade ago, Barchorderi decided he could at least bring Iran to him, opening a restaurant in Tel Aviv that combines his passion for cooking Persian food with his yearning for the smells and tastes of his childhood.

Rushing in and out of the restaurant’s kitchen on a recent weekday, Barchorderi said creating authentic Persian dishes would be impossible without the original ingredients and products coming from Iran.

So in order to cook up adas polo, a classic saffron and cinnamon dish of meat, rice, and lentils; khoresht sabzi, a herb stew with dried Iranian limes, herbs, and spinach; or gondi meatball dumplings in chicken broth, a traditional Shabbat dinner dish, Barchorderi must circumvent the various bans and economic sanctions that have halted trade between the countries since 1979.

He is not alone.

Nestled in a working class part of the city, South Tel Aviv’s Levinsky open-air spice market is a veritable cacophony of the various immigrant communities that have made their way to Israel over the years, filled with bakeries selling Balkan bourekas fresh from the oven, Greek olives, and other delicacies reminiscent of former homelands. Alongside Barchorderi’s Gourmet Sabzi restaurant are a number of other storefronts also manned by Iranian Jewish vendors, many of whom fled the Islamic Republic after Ayatollah Khomeini rose to power in 1979.

At some stores, shoppers can find goods that have continued to reach Israel despite the ban on trade.

Israel’s Trading with the Enemy Ordinance prohibits conducting any economic or commercial activity, directly or indirectly, between Israel and enemy states, including Iran, Syria, and Lebanon. The restrictions go both ways. The Islamic Republic has passed legislation over the past decades that bars any trade or cooperation with Israel, including the use of any Israeli computer hardware or software.

To get around the ban, importers make use of a loophole that allows them to buy Iranian goods from third-party markets in Europe and elsewhere and sell them in Israel as if they had originated in the third-party country.

“Imports from enemy countries are forbidden, but the fact that there is bypassing presumes that one way of bypassing is to dissimulate the origin, meaning the produce is not labelled as coming from Iran or from Syria or from Lebanon,” Dan Catarivas, president of the Israeli Federation of Bi-National Chambers of Commerce and Industry, told The Times of Israel. “Importers are not breaking the law. They are abiding by the regulation, as the origin of the product is simulated.”

For years, Turkey was the main conduit for the goods. But Ankara has largely downgraded its trade relations in Israel since the war in Gaza, meaning Iranian goods must come from another country, which has sent prices upward, sellers say.

“For many years, Iranian products entered Israel via Turkey, but since this avenue has been closed, the goods arrive in Israel via a third country, often Georgia, or via Dubai, and other places that are not Turkey,” said spice-seller Isaac Simanian. “As a result, prices have gone up by about 30 percent to 40%.”

Since imports and exports happen under the radar, official trade figures are not available, but Catarivas said the practice was fairly limited >>>