On July 29, Hammihan newspaper reported the establishment of “registry patrols” at metro stations and quoted the capital’s police as saying, “We are looking for stolen phones, and we are implementing this plan at all stations.”
Hammihan wrote that police officers have been asking metro passengers whether their mobile phones are registered or not.
According to this newspaper, the police have tried to implement this plan quietly in recent weeks and have not made much public announcement about it.
Hammihan also addressed reports of the seizure of iPhones at metro stations and quoted the Tehran Metro Operating Company as saying: “This rumor was probably due to a misunderstanding of one of the actions of the police stationed in the metro to identify stolen property and deal with thieves.”
According to this report, the issue of importing and selling American-branded iPhones in Iran has been controversial in recent years. These controversies peaked after regime supreme leader Ali Khamenei declared his stance against the import of this American brand.
In September 2020, Ali Khamenei said: “Sometimes these imports are luxury imports, meaning there is no need for them; I heard that about half a billion dollars were spent on importing a type of luxury American phone in 2019. Of course, the private sector does this, but the government should stop it.”
Khamenei’s statements became an excuse for the government to announce a ban on importing iPhones into the country and to impose heavy tariffs on its lower models.
This approach eventually led to the formation of fraudulent networks, and in one case, the company “Kourosh Company,” which was involved in selling mobile phones, claimed that it was providing iPhones, which were bought and sold in the Iranian open market for 350 to 400 million rials, to consumers for “200 million rials” (approximately $339) by “eliminating intermediaries.” Eventually, the company left more than 200,000 people waiting for their phones, leading to a case against its owner in the Iranian judiciary for an amount of 20 trillion rials (approximately $33.9 million).
Some experts believe that the ban on importing this brand in Iran is aimed at reaping substantial benefits by individuals or groups close to the government.
Accordingly, after the import ban on iPhones and the imposition of up to 100% tariffs on passenger imports of lower models, last week Iran Customs announced a new directive setting the import duty for mobile phones valued under $150 at 10%, for mobile phones valued between $150 and $600 at 5%, and for mobile phones valued over $600 at 15%.
According to this directive, the ban on importing Apple iPhones(models 14 and above) remains in place.
