Apple vendors in Iran scoff at US sanctions

Vendors of Apple products in Iran on Saturday scoffed at US media reports that the consumer technology giant was banning US sales to customers of Iranian background, pointing out that iPads and iPhones are widely available in Tehran. One salesman who gave only his first name, Hossein, told AFP that he had sold 40 iPhones the day before, and explained that prices for Apple items in Iran were only around $50-$60 more than in the United States.
Traders were easily getting around US sanctions on the export of popular electronic items to Iran, he said. "All Apple products are smuggled into Iran. Before, it was mainly from Dubai and European countries, but now we can get all we need from Iraq," he said. "We have all of Apple's products." Iranian media noted reports from the United States that a young American woman of Iranian descent, who was speaking Farsi with her uncle, was barred from buying an iPad from an Apple store in the US state of Georgia.