TEHRAN- The value of export from East Azarbaijan province, in the northwest of Iran, rose 40 percent in the first quarter of the current Iranian calendar year (March 21- June 21), as compared to the first quarter of the previous year, Saber Parnian, the head of the province’s Industry, Mining and Trade Department, announced.As previously announced by an official with the province’s customs department, the value of export from East Azarbaijan rose 16 percent in the past Iranian calendar year (ended on March 20), from its preceding year.Leili Orangi said that commodities worth $1.654 billion were exported from the province in the previous year.In terms of the weight, the exports indicate nine percent annual growth, she added.The official named carpets and handicrafts, sweets and chocolates, glass and glass products, steel and cast iron, objects made of plastic materials, minerals and stones, nuts, petrochemical products, machinery and mechanical devices, components and parts, leather and shoes as the major exported items, and Turkey, Iraq, Armenia, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Pakistan, Georgia, Bulgaria, United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Italy as the main export destinations.MA/MA