Apple has been warned by the Iranian government that it faces having its products banned in the country unless it officially registers with Iran's anti-smuggling office.
"If Apple will not register an official representative in Iran within the next few days, all iPhones will be collected from the market," said the director of Iran's anti-smuggling project on Sunday.
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The ultimatum was reported by Tasnim News Agency and translated today by The Japan Times. According to the report, more than 40 million Iranians use smartphones, including millions of iPhone users whose devices are often imported into the country by smugglers.
To stop the flow of smuggled phones, Iran's presidential office will initiate a scheme later this week that requires all mobile phones to be registered with Iran's telecommunications user database. Phones not registered will not be able to be used in the country. According to the office, former users of iPhones and other smuggled phones are excluded from the scheme.
Despite the cooperation of mobile operators, customs, and the union of mobile phone sellers, IT activists in the country have criticized the state's decision to potentially ban iPhones.
"Collecting this huge number of iPhones will not be easy," the head of the Tehran IT union told Tasnim News, and expressed concerns that the telecommunications database could be susceptible to hacking attempts.
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Top Rated Comments
(View all)Tourists? Anyone going to Iran, or North Korea should not be surprised if they wind up arrested.
Ever tried to visit Iran? I'm afraid your comment is really a complete and utter lie, solely based on ignorance.Surely the iPhone's currently for sale are not the property of the Iranian government.
It's called confiscation and legally renders the question of property meaningless.I do agree though, a very hard-handed approach. Then again, so is having to register your phone to fight smuggling.
On another note, I guess I'm not the only one suspecting other reasons for this registration scheme.
Glassed Silver:mac
So what if you are only there for a little while as a tourist for example. Will Ou have to register your iPhone to be able to use it? Otherwise any "tourist" could just happen to bring an iPhone in the country and sell it as before
Tourists? Anyone going to Iran, or North Korea should not be surprised if they wind up arrested.[doublepost=1468931899][/doublepost]
Apple should withhold and refuse until they get their human rights in check. :)
If we're going to use human rights violations as an excuse to stop sales to a country, we're going to have a long list of countries without iPhones - starting with our close ally and champion of democracy, Saudi Arabia.