or the past two years, Apple has been gradually cutting off its association – direct or indirect – with Iran. It has been reported now that Apple has blocked App Store for users in Iran. According to The Verge, users who try to visit the App Store in Iran now receive a message reading, “The App Store is unavailable in the country or region you’re in.”
Saeed Taheri, a Tehran-based iOS developer also posted a screenshot of the same on Twitter. It remains unclear what has prompted this latest move from Apple. The fact, however, is that Apple has had a relationship with Apple which can be best described as tempestuous.
It began in 2015 when several reports pointed that Apple was considering the possibility of doing business in Iran. However, the tensions between US and Iran meant that the idea was scuppered before it could take off. A year later, government of Iran wanted to curtail smuggling of iPhones and threatened a ban of Apple products. At the beginning of 2017, Apple refused Iran’s developers to sell their apps on App Store. The reason given was Apple would not allow Iranian apps till “international trade laws are revised to allow this functionality.” Since last year, US president Donald Trump has come down strongly on Iran in terms of sanctions.
The latest move comes after Seung Min, the White House correspondent for The Washington Post, posted on Twitter that Apple CEO Tim Cook was recently seen on the Capitol Hill in Washington. Apple clearly doesn’t want to violate any norms of the US-Iran sanctions. Apple hasn’t given an official comment or word on this latest move in Iran. However, The Verge report added that users in Iran will find it difficult to use Apple devices. The alternative to use App Store would be “routing internet traffic through VPNs.” As of now, Apple users seem to be in a limbo in Iran.
Saeed Taheri, a Tehran-based iOS developer also posted a screenshot of the same on Twitter. It remains unclear what has prompted this latest move from Apple. The fact, however, is that Apple has had a relationship with Apple which can be best described as tempestuous.
It began in 2015 when several reports pointed that Apple was considering the possibility of doing business in Iran. However, the tensions between US and Iran meant that the idea was scuppered before it could take off. A year later, government of Iran wanted to curtail smuggling of iPhones and threatened a ban of Apple products. At the beginning of 2017, Apple refused Iran’s developers to sell their apps on App Store. The reason given was Apple would not allow Iranian apps till “international trade laws are revised to allow this functionality.” Since last year, US president Donald Trump has come down strongly on Iran in terms of sanctions.
The latest move comes after Seung Min, the White House correspondent for The Washington Post, posted on Twitter that Apple CEO Tim Cook was recently seen on the Capitol Hill in Washington. Apple clearly doesn’t want to violate any norms of the US-Iran sanctions. Apple hasn’t given an official comment or word on this latest move in Iran. However, The Verge report added that users in Iran will find it difficult to use Apple devices. The alternative to use App Store would be “routing internet traffic through VPNs.” As of now, Apple users seem to be in a limbo in Iran.
