Iran doesn't just export dates. A supplier working out of Bam, Jiroft or Saravan usually has three or four dried fruit lines moving through the same warehouse at once — Mazafati and Piarom dates alongside dried mulberries (tut khoshk), dried barberries (zereshk), and golden raisins from Malayer or Qazvin. Each behaves differently once it's off the tree or vine.
Handling differs more than taste does
Piarom, sun-dried and semi-soft, holds its shape well over a long sea shipment. Mazafati is picked and packed at a much higher moisture level and needs cold storage from farm to final buyer, which is why it usually reaches a market like Malaysia chilled or frozen rather than shelf-stable. Dried mulberries sit at the opposite extreme — bone dry, almost crumbly, and can sit in a warehouse for well over a year without special handling.
Barberries are the outlier on this list. Tart rather than sweet, used mostly as a garnish or cooking ingredient rather than eaten on their own, and they fade in colour under direct light faster than any of the others — which is why they travel in opaque packaging.
Matching the fruit to the route
None of this makes one line "better" than another. A Piarom buyer and a barberry buyer are shopping for completely different things. What matters when sourcing from Iran is matching each fruit's actual handling requirements to your shipping route and storage setup, not picking whatever has the most attractive listing photo. Your Domain Name carries current stock and pricing if you want a reference point.
For a side-by-side on how Iranian-market dates compare once they reach a Malaysian retail shelf, see our Malaysian Kurma: Local Gems & Imported Delights piece. For the fresh-vs-dried handling question specifically, our Fresh vs. Dried guide goes into it further.