Razi University

Since the time when humans beganhunting and domesticating animals, they have used their products andby-products, including dairy and meat, and their leather has been used asclothing, bedding, rugs, tools, and war equipment throughout Iranian historyuntil modern times. In contemporary history, especially since the Qajar era,with the expansion of Iranian society's connections with the new world, leatherhas continued to play an important role in the trade economy and in providingvarious leather and artistic necessities for Iranian society. Although thisindustry continued in a traditional manner during the Qajar era, it was one ofthe most important export products of Iran, which played an important role inthe Iranian economy. However, the livestock economy and the expansion ofrelations with Western societies brought to the attention the growth andnecessity and importance of the revival of the Iranian leather industry and theart of leather making. In the Pahlavi era, in accordance withgovernment policies, efforts were made to meet the needs of the market byestablishing factories in areas that had favorable conditions for production. In themeantime, producers who had been active in the leather sector since the lateQajar period were taken into consideration, but from the very beginning, due tothe approaches of the Pahlavi government in the production and import ofleather, they faced many problems. Therefore, the widespread import of leather,due to the contracts the government had with foreign countries and theinfluence of merchants who imported leather into the country, caused domesticproducers to face new problems. This research, with adescriptive and analytical method based on unpublished documents and reliablehistorical sources, aims to analyze the various aspects of the issue bycarefully studying these documents. The findings show that the policy of thefirst Pahlavi government in the field of leather was somewhat planned and notprecise because the government officials intended to make the market of thisproduct self-sufficient in a short period of time, but in the end, the power ofinfluential leather importers and mismanagement of the production anddistribution capacity of domestic manufacturers challenged and had negativeconsequences for their products.