New electronics reach Iran, but prices soar as gov’t fees, US sanctions hit

Latest smartphones are finding their way into Iran despite sanctions and trade restrictions, but many can’t afford them.

Iranians are still able to get the latest mobile phones at places like Tehran's Charsou Mall, but have to pay a premium [Maziar Motamedi/Al Jazeera]

Tehran, Iran – When the latest iPhone 18 lineup was released by Apple in the United States on September 18, it only took a couple of days for the new models to go on sale in downtown Tehran.

That is despite Apple not having a physical presence in Iran due to years of international sanctions, and the ongoing months-long US naval blockade of Iran’s southern ports, through which the bulk of the country’s imports previously entered.

list 1 of 3 Epstein, Iran and ‘drain the swamp’: Have Republicans shifted before vote?

list 2 of 3 White evangelical support for Trump slips but still strong as midterms near

list 3 of 3 Iran says seven ships hit in Hormuz Strait, warns US of wider response

“These things can’t stop a mobile phone seller,” a phone and accessories trader in Tehran’s Charsou Mall, a major electronics hub, told Al Jazeera, asking to remain anonymous for security reasons.

But he explained that the process of bringing in phones has become much more complicated, time-consuming and costly, due to both external pressures and domestic conditions imposed by the Iranian government.

Many electronics manufactured internationally are imported into Iran via Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, but the nearly eight-month-long war with the US and Israel has disrupted trade through the Strait of Hormuz . Iran has also repeatedly attacked the UAE throughout the conflict, and the UAE also announced a halt to trade, commercial exchanges and financial transactions with Iran on August 19.

Some Iranian traders then pivoted to using passengers coming in from Oman to bring in phones and other items. But after US sanctions on all Iranian airlines – and anyone who provides services for them – came into effect in September, few flights are landing in the country .

“Most of the phones are now smuggled into the country. Many go to Sulaimaniyah and then come in by land,” the trader said, referencing the northeastern city in the Kurdish region of northern Iraq, which borders western Iran.

A similar story has also been true for many other electronics currently found in the Iranian market, including laptops, graphics and processing units, PlayStation devices and even Starlink terminals .

This week in Tehran, a MacBook Air 15-inch M4 sold for the rial equivalent of more than $1,450, about 6 percent higher than an average retailer in the UAE. A one-terabyte PlayStation 5 Slim disc-edition console was going for about $730, or 11 percent more expensive than some retailers in the US.

‘Registration’ and other fees

Things are much worse when it comes to mobile phones.

Mobile phone service on imported devices only works for 30 days if a registration fee to the Iranian government is not paid.

The fee was introduced nearly 10 years ago, ostensibly aimed at fighting smuggling and corruption. The amount varies depending on the value of the phone, with the government charging import duties of up to 6 percent for phones worth below 600 euros ($673), up to 15 percent for phones between 600 and 900 euros ($673 and $1,010), and up to 30 percent for phones with a value above 900 euros.

After adding other levies and “warranties” from domestic companies, extra charges for some phones can amount to more than half of the total price paid.

But even a registered phone cannot be used to freely access the internet, as the government imposes severe internet filtering and shutdowns, while global payment methods are off-limits to Iranians and international firms refuse many services to Iranian nationals because of US sanctions.

According to the state-linked Tasnim news site, about $1.6bn worth of mobile phones were imported commercially during the previous Iranian year ending in March 2026, up to 20 percent of which were phones priced at more than $600. Phones worth $470m were brought in by aeroplane passengers, most of them higher-spec phones. There are no clear figures for smuggled phones.

In mid-August, customs chief Foroud Asgari told state media that approximately one million phones had been imported during the first five months of the current Iranian year, versus 3.16 million in the corresponding period of a year earlier. He said the import value of the phones had fallen by approximately 70 percent.

The government can also decide to stop the registration of phones whenever it deems necessary.

That was the case between 2023 and 2024 for newer iPhone models, which authorities said could not be registered under any circumstance because they were made by an American company and were gobbling up precious foreign currency reserves for imports. Authorities did not take issue with similarly-priced high-end models.

Skyrocketing government charges and local restrictions are making it harder for Iranian customers to afford new phones at a time when the monthly minimum wage and basic government subsidies for an average married worker amount to the equivalent of just $83 in Iran.

The rial, the country’s national currency, has continued on its downward spiral. It changed hands for about 2.64 million per US dollar in Tehran on Monday, slightly improved from an all-time low reached earlier this month.

Prices have been surging across the board, especially for food and other essentials , as domestic mismanagement, war damage, sanctions and blockade squeeze the Iranian economy and make most of the country’s 90-million population poorer.

Afsaneh, a 27-year-old teacher from Tehran, said she has been thinking about replacing her iPhone 13 with last year’s 17 model, but balks when she sees the prices.

“The only way to get it is to sell my current phone, use my small savings and also borrow from my parents,” she told Al Jazeera.

She pointed out that many among her peers and acquaintances are also forced to keep old devices alive by repairing them or replacing parts, if possible, since they cannot afford to upgrade.

“A lot of people are one failure of a major electronic device away from getting into serious debt,” she said.

尽管受到制裁和贸易限制，最新款智能手机仍在流入伊朗，但许多人买不起。

伊朗人仍然可以在德黑兰的查尔苏购物中心等地买到最新款的手机，但需要支付更高的价格。[Maziar Motamedi/半岛电视台]

伊朗德黑兰——9月18日，苹果公司在美国发布了最新的iPhone 18系列手机，仅仅几天后，新款iPhone就在德黑兰市中心上市销售。

尽管由于多年的国际制裁，苹果公司在伊朗没有实体存在，而且美国海军对伊朗南部港口进行了长达数月的封锁（该国大部分进口商品此前都是通过这些港口进入伊朗的），但情况依然如此。

列表 1/3：爱泼斯坦、伊朗和“排干沼泽”：共和党人在投票前立场是否发生了转变？

（共3项）白人福音派对特朗普的支持率有所下滑，但随着中期选举临近，其支持率依然强劲（第2项）

伊朗称七艘船只在霍尔木兹海峡遭到袭击，警告美国将采取更大规模的报复行动（共3条，此为第3条）。

“这些事阻止不了手机销售商，”德黑兰主要电子产品中心查尔苏购物中心的一位手机及配件商贩告诉半岛电视台，他因安全原因要求匿名。

但他解释说，由于外部压力和伊朗政府施加的国内条件，手机进口过程变得更加复杂、耗时且成本更高。

许多国际制造的电子产品经由阿联酋迪拜进口到伊朗，但与美国和以色列持续近八个月的战争扰乱了霍尔木兹海峡的贸易。在冲突期间，伊朗也多次袭击阿联酋，阿联酋于8月19日宣布停止与伊朗的贸易、商业往来和金融交易。

一些伊朗商人随后转而利用从阿曼入境的乘客走私手机和其他物品。但自9月份美国对所有伊朗航空公司及其服务提供商实施制裁以来，飞往伊朗的航班寥寥无几。

“现在大部分手机都是走私入境的。很多手机先运到苏莱曼尼亚，然后再从陆路入境，”这位商人说道，他指的是伊拉克北部库尔德地区的东北部城市苏莱曼尼亚，该市与伊朗西部接壤。

类似的情况也发生在伊朗市场上的许多其他电子产品上，包括笔记本电脑、图形和处理器、PlayStation 设备，甚至 Starlink 终端。

本周在德黑兰，一台15英寸MacBook Air M4的售价相当于1450多美元，比阿联酋零售商的平均售价高出约6%。一台1TB的PlayStation 5 Slim光驱版游戏机售价约为730美元，比美国一些零售商的售价高出11%。

注册费和其他费用

手机方面的情况要糟糕得多。

进口手机的手机服务如果未向伊朗政府缴纳注册费，则只能使用 30 天。

这项费用大约在10年前推出，表面上是为了打击走私和腐败。税额根据手机价值而定，政府对价值低于600欧元（673美元）的手机征收最高6%的进口关税，对价值在600至900欧元（673至1010美元）之间的手机征收最高15%的进口关税，对价值超过900欧元的手机征收最高30%的进口关税。

加上国内公司的其他税费和“保修”后，某些手机的额外费用可能超过总价的一半。

但即使是注册的手机也无法自由访问互联网，因为政府实施了严格的互联网过滤和封锁，而全球支付方式对伊朗人来说是被禁止的，由于美国的制裁，国际公司也拒绝向伊朗国民提供许多服务。

据伊朗官方通讯社塔斯尼姆通讯社报道，在截至2026年3月的上一个伊朗年度，伊朗商业进口手机价值约16亿美元，其中高达20%的手机售价超过600美元。另有价值4.7亿美元的手机由飞机乘客带入伊朗，其中大部分是高端机型。目前尚无关于走私手机的明确数据。

8月中旬，海关总署署长福鲁德·阿斯加里告诉国家媒体，伊朗新财年的前五个月，进口手机约100万部，而去年同期为316万部。他表示，手机进口额下降了约70%。

政府也可以在认为必要时停止手机注册。

2023年至2024年间，新款iPhone机型也面临同样的情况。当局表示，这些机型无论如何都不能注册，因为它们是由一家美国公司生产的，进口会消耗大量宝贵的外汇储备。但对于价格相近的高端机型，当局则没有提出异议。

政府收费飞涨和地方限制使得伊朗消费者更难负担得起新手机，而此时伊朗已婚工人的月最低工资和基本政府补贴加起来也只相当于 83 美元。

伊朗国家货币里亚尔持续贬值。周一，里亚尔在德黑兰的汇率约为1美元兑264万里亚尔，较本月初创下的历史低点略有回升。

由于国内管理不善、战争破坏、制裁和封锁挤压伊朗经济，使该国9000万人口中的大多数人变得更加贫困，物价全面飙升，尤其是食品和其他必需品。

来自德黑兰的 27 岁教师阿夫萨内表示，她一直在考虑用去年的 iPhone 17 机型替换她的 iPhone 13，但看到价格后就犹豫了。

她告诉半岛电视台：“我唯一的办法就是卖掉我现在的手机，用掉我仅有的积蓄，还要向父母借钱。”

她指出，她的许多同龄人和熟人也因为无力升级换代，只能尽可能地修理或更换旧设备，勉强维持其运转。

“很多人只要一台大型电子设备出现故障，就可能背负巨额债务，”她说。