Sanctions and Soaring Fees Drive Up Prices for New Electronics in Iran

Despite international sanctions and a US naval blockade affecting Iran's southern ports, the latest mobile phones, such as the iPhone 18 lineup released by Apple, are reaching Tehran's Charsou Mall within days of their US release. A trader in the electronics hub, who requested anonymity for security reasons, explained to Al Jazeera that while these obstacles cannot halt the flow of mobile phones, the process of importing them has become significantly more complex, time-consuming, and expensive due to both external pressures and domestic government policies.

Many international electronics are typically imported through Dubai, but the ongoing conflict involving the US, Israel, and Iran has disrupted trade routes through the Strait of Hormuz. Iran's attacks on the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the UAE's subsequent halt to trade with Iran on August 19 further complicated matters. Iranian traders then turned to travelers from Oman to bring in goods, but US sanctions on Iranian airlines and related services, implemented in September, have drastically reduced flights into the country.

Consequently, most phones are now believed to be smuggled, often via Sulaimaniyah in the Kurdish region of northern Iraq, before entering Iran by land. This situation mirrors that of other electronics available in the Iranian market, including laptops, graphics and processing units, PlayStation devices, and even Starlink terminals. In Tehran, a MacBook Air 15-inch M4 was priced at the rial equivalent of over $1,450, approximately 6 percent higher than in the UAE, while a one-terabyte PlayStation 5 Slim disc-edition console cost around $730, about 11 percent more than in the US.

The situation is more severe for mobile phones due to a government registration fee, introduced nearly a decade ago to combat smuggling. Imported devices only function for 30 days without this fee. The fee's amount varies based on the phone's value, with import duties ranging from up to 6 percent for phones under 600 euros ($673), up to 15 percent for phones between 600 and 900 euros ($673-$1,010), and up to 30 percent for phones exceeding 900 euros. Additional levies and domestic company