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Friday, July 13, 2012, 10:38 am
Business 'booming' for banned Apple products in Iran
Though Apple's products are banned from sale in Iran due to U.S. sanctions, unauthorized sales remain big business in the Middle Eastern country, according to a new profile.Apple products illegally make their way through "underground trade routes in the Middle East and beyond," according to Reuters. Author Marcus George detailed in a story published on Friday how iPhones and iPads were once "rare and sought-after," but are now "de rigueur in Iran among those who can afford them."
Among the resellers included in the profile is "Iran Apple Center," which runs a website that looks extremely similar to Apple's official store. Citing a person familiar with the matter, George said that Apple has been attempting to shut that particular website down.
The report also features comments from Majid Tavassoli, owner of RadanMac, which is one of 100 estimated stores in Tehran that sell Apple products in spite of the U.S. embargo. Tavassoli characterized his business as "booming."
Apple products are said to be so readily available in Iran that devices can often be found at prices not much higher than they sell for in the U.S.
American companies like Apple are barred by the U.S. government from selling products in Iran without special authorization. The goal is to curb the nation's nuclear program, particularly by hurting Iran's banks and oil industry, which are suspected of assisting in the development of nuclear weapons.
Friday's report isn't the first time this week Apple has been linked to Iran in the media. Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook also made a surprise appearance at Allen & Co's annual media retreat in Sun Valley, Idaho, to sit in on a session entitled "Iran vs. Israel."
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Previous Comments View All
Seems that Apple is the one thing on which the whole world can agree.
Seems that Apple is the one thing on which the whole world can agree.
Agree or disagree it gets page hits and media attention. That's all it needs to be for many folks
The last paragraph wins the non sequitur of the day award in my book.
Meanwhile, I don't see this as all bad. At least it shows the general inhabitants of Iran are not being swayed into believing all things American are evil by the religious nut jobs at the helm.
Launch nuclear bombs with a single tap?
There's an app for that.
Outta their hair
The jet pilots wailed
.....
He thinks it's not kosher
Fundamentally he can't take it
You know he really hates it
Launch nuclear bombs with a single tap?
There's an app for that.
Not funny. Nuclear weapons are not a laughing matter, as the Americans have demonstrated in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Outta their hair
The jet pilots wailed
The in crowd say it's cool!
This headline and article are a bit misleading. Iran has not banned Apple products, and nobody except for the Iranian government can ban sales in the own country.
The US do not allow exporting to the Iran. That is something completely different, and really no story whatsoever. Iran buys weapons, nuclear materials, construction plans for nuclear submarines and other niceties despite that not being possible. Actually, the US-Iran trade volume went up over 800% starting the very moment Mr. Bush Jr. declared a total embargo. So, how is Apple the story here?
Seems that Apple is the one thing on which the whole world can agree.
LOL, except for about a third of the posters at tech media sites.
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They are using Apple trademarks without permission. That is worth a shutdown regardless of the rest of it
And now we'll see a rash of articles on this whole Apple Iran business thanks to the alleged racism which comes from one incident where the victim keeps changing her story and about 20 more that cant be proven they were ever in an Apple store much less that things went as they claim (but weren't upset enough to talk about it until after this first case hit the press)