The iPhone Ban In Iran: Officials Confirm The Rhyme's For Real This Time

Iran is threatening to ban Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) from its 80-million-people market unless the company registers itself as an official representative, in compliance with the country's anti-smuggling requirements. According to Iran’s Tasnim News Agency, the government will require all mobile phones to be registered with the public telecommunications user database starting next week.

This is a move aimed at controlling mobile phone smuggling, the news source said. Apparently, illegal devices are a big issue in the country.

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As per Tasnim, the director of Iran's anti-smuggling office assured that it would “collect” all iPhones from the market, unless the tech behemoth registered “an official representative in Iran within the next few days.” However, this measure would not reach phones bought before this announcement, the Persian government agency added.

Another article, published on the Japan Times stated that 40 million Iranians use smartphones, and many of them are smuggled — especially iPhones, as Apple does not sell them directly in the country. Very similar situations have occurred in many Latin American countries, where only recently Apple started selling its devices officially. However, millions of people owned iPhones before that, not all of which were bought during a trip abroad.

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Disclosure: Javier Hasse holds no interest in any of the securities or entities mentioned above.