Almost 10 years after an EU ban rocked the industry, Iran's pistachio suppliers are looking forward to a bumper year and hoping to consolidate their position as the top exporter of one of the world's choicest nuts.

Iran offers the perfect environment for the pistachio tree -- which thrives in the baking summers and cold winters of the arid southeast -- and along with carpets and saffron the nut is one of the country's most iconic exports.

It is also of considerable economic importance as the third largest foreign currency earning export and accounts for some 50 percent of Iran's total agricultural exports.

But in 1997 -- at a time when relations between Iran and Europe slumped to one of their lowest ebbs -- the European Union suspended imports of Iranian pistachios because of excessive levels of a possibly carcinogenic toxin.

Aflatoxin is a substance found in mould and has been linked to cancer in the liver and kidneys.

The effects of the ban are still being felt.

But the head of the agriculture ministry's pistachio office, Behrouz Qaybi, told AFP that this year's crop was expected to top last year's 230,000 tonnes, and intense efforts have been made to stop the contamination problem.

"We expect to increase production to 250,000 tonnes in the current Iranian year (ends March 2007) and we are committed to supplying the nuts according to the standards," he said.

In 1997, the level of aflatoxin in Iran's pistachios was higher than 100 parts per billion (pbb) but the country's adhesion to the EU regulations has reduced the figure to between two and 15 ppb, Qaybi said.

The EU applies some of the strictest regulations in the world on the levels of aflatoxin -- a maximum of two ppb, while most other importers accept parcels of up to 10 to 15 ppb. Any unfit consignments are rejected by the EU countries.

Iranian pistachios go through a so-called "green corridor" involving multi-staged checks on the split-shelled nuts destined to be nibbled abroad.

"We have also put in place another procedure to spot hazardous and critical points from farms up to transportation and storage," Qaybi said.

Iran's government, which only plays a supervisory role in the exports of pistachios, applies its own sanctions on exporters who record a level of more than 10 percent returned consignments during a three-month period, he added.

The Islamic republic is the world's biggest exporter of pistachios, accounting for more than a third of the stylish nuts that adorn coffee tables and chic restaurants around the globe. Next come the United States, Turkey and Syria.

In the first seven months of the current Iranian year, Iran's pistachio exports -- worth 454.7 million dollars -- accounted for about 50 percent of the country's agricultural exports, according to Iran's customs office.

After petrochemicals, iron and steel, the humble pistachio is Iran's most important non-oil export.

Yet amid disgruntled echoes of the complaints of EU political interference that marked the 1997 ban, a proportion of Iran's pistachio exports are still being sent back by the bloc.

"Some 16 percent of consignments sent to the EU were returned in 2005 and only three percent were returned from other destinations," senior consultant of Iran's Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Mines, Assadollah Asgaroladi, told AFP.

Iran's greenish-red split shell nuts are still subject to a full check by the European Union, increasing the probability of the cargos being returned.

"The United States, which is ahead of others in terms of health, returns the 20 ppb contaminated pistachios. We consider the EU's standard as an unfriendly and political move besides the trade and competition aspects," Asgaroladi complained.

"Each 25-tonne consignment that is returned will cost the exporter 10,000 euros," said Asgaroladi, who owns a large dried fruits and nuts exports company.

He said that China -- with 40,000 tonnes of imports per year -- ranks as Iran's biggest customer for pistachios, while the EU and Russia, each with 30,000 tonnes a year of imported pistachios, are next.

Even moves by the US to prevent dollar-based transactions to and from Iran have not been a setback for the country in keeping its position in the pistachio export market, he said.

"The US dollar-sanctions have troubled our transactions, as most of the deals are based on the dollar. But we shift the currency to euro or use other banking systems, especially in the Far East, to dodge the barrier," Asgaroladi said.