iPhone users in Iran signal dismay over ban on new models, Telecom News, ET Telecom

Tehran: In a Tehran cafe, Hamid waves his cell phone, hoping to pick up a weak signal and thus bypass Iran’s strict ban on the latest iPhone models.

He purchased his new device abroad shortly after the Islamic Republic banned the iPhone 14 and 15 series in February 2023, hoping that restrictions would eventually ease.

But they never did.

“I only had network reception for a month and then it disappeared,” the 32-year-old told AFP as he repeatedly pressed the phone’s power button to try to regain connectivity.

“I need to switch it to the lower 3G bands and maybe then I’ll get coverage.”

Under last year’s ban, users of the latest iPhone models can no longer register their devices in the country.

All people – including tourists – must register their phone with the authorities to use local SIM cards for more than a month.

The ban highlighted the economic pressures Iran’s government has faced in recent years, including international sanctions and rising inflation.

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According to a March 2023 report by the ISNA news agency, authorities said the measure was aimed at curbing foreign currency spending.

However, iPhones from the American company Apple remain highly desirable devices in Iran, valued not only for their advanced technology, but also as status symbols.

– Underground Market –

Official restrictions are inadvertently fueling a lucrative underground market, with some suppliers inflating prices on older iPhone models that are easier to register.

Apple has never had an official presence in Iran due to US sanctions, which were reimposed after Washington withdrew from the landmark nuclear deal in 2018.

The ban even sparked a scheme that allegedly defrauded thousands of Iranians of tens of millions of dollars in cheap iPhones.

A company called “Koroush” had been offering iPhones for months at discounted prices of up to 200,000 million riyals ($340) through online ads featuring celebrities.

As the Javan daily reported in February, he allegedly raised around $35 million. Other media, citing police, reported lower amounts, exceeding $3 million.

The owner of the company is currently wanted.

ISNA reported that more than 5,000 people in Tehran and other cities have filed fraud cases against the company.

iPhone sellers in Iran say the program was just one way the ban shook up the market.

“It has distorted the prices” of iPhones, said Navid, who owns a phone store in central Tehran.

“It also enabled customers to get a warranty on overpriced phones,” he added.

Even though it’s an older version, the iPhone 13 is priced similarly to newer models “due to range,” said Arafeh, a 26-year-old photographer shopping for the new phone.

In some stores in Tehran, the price of iPhone 13 ranged from 410 million rials to over a billion rials ($710-1,900), with the retail price of iPhone 15 ranging from 440 million to one billion rials ($750-1,900).

– Growing hostility –

In one store, the price of the iPhone 14 ranged from 366 million to 740 million rials ($640-1,275).

However, “people are still willing to buy iPhones,” said Navid, who no longer lists the latest models because they are now “contraband.”

Phones costing more than $600, including iPhones, accounted for nearly 32 percent of Iran’s $4.4 billion in cell phone imports between March 2021 and March 2022, according to a customs report cited by local media in September.

Authorities have been showing increasing hostility towards American products for years.

In August 2020, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called on the government to stop the import of iPhones.

“I hear that between March 2019 and March 2020, approximately half a billion dollars was spent on importing a certain type of American luxury cell phone,” he said in a 2020 speech, according to his website.

“The private sector has done this, but the government must stop it.”

With the ban in place, iPhone 14 and 15 users have no choice but to find illegal and often costly ways to access the web.

“It’s the only option that makes the phone work,” Hamid said.

According to Navid, software providers and technicians charge between “four and 70 million rials” in fees to change certain network parameters to bypass the restrictions.

Mehdi, a 26-year-old engineer, has been struggling for months to find a way to circumvent the ban.

“And none of the solutions are permanent,” he added.

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