Carpet record

Iran has unveiled what it says is the world's largest handmade carpet, a vast green and red floor covering that is larger than a football pitch. The carpet, which took 1,200 weavers some 18 months to make, is destined for a mosque in the United Arab Emirates.

Measuring 5,625 sq m (60,546 sq ft), the carpet was made in nine separate segments with 2.2 billion knots.

It was woven in Iran's north-eastern province of Khorasan and is worth an estimated $5.8m (£2.8m). Half of that sum is destined for the local area in Khorasan, where it was produced using about 38 tons of wool and cotton.

The nine sections of the carpet will be stitched together after being flown to Abu Dhabi in two separate aeroplanes.

Four groups of people would be sent to UAE for the fitting and cleaning of the carpet, said Jalaleddin Bassam, the head of Iran's state carpet company. He said the carpet was an important commission for Iran's carpet-making industry, and said it could lead to further orders.

"Iran is in talks to make similar carpets for Oman and other Gulf countries," he told Agence France-Presse.

The carpet - mainly green, red and cream - was made using 25 different colours of wool sourced from the town of Sirjan, in southern Iran, as well as New Zealand.