Iran loosens import restrictions on foreign cars and iPhones, trying to mask its economic woes

Iranian architecture student buys expensive iPhone in Tehran, revealing economic struggles and government tactics amid sanctions.

All architecture student Amirhossein Azizi wanted for his 19th birthday was the latest iPhone — and for Iran’s cash-strapped theocracy, it was just the gift they needed as well.

Just buying a top-of-the-line iPhone 16 Pro Max in Iran’s capital cost him on the day 1.6 billion rials ($1,880). An additional 450 million rials ($530) is required for import fees and registration on government-managed mobile phone networks.

“I’m very happy to own one of the most expensive phones in the country,” Mr. Azizi said. His father, Mohammad, laughed nearby and added: “Maybe if they had to earn the money themselves, they wouldn’t be so quick to spend it.”

The purchase is only possible after Iran lifted import bans on expensive goods like foreign cars and new iPhones, yielding to public demand for the products while also trying to mask the dire straits of its economy.

While being described as a way to boost Iran’s much-vaunted “resistance economy,” the bans had trapped Iranians into buying more affordable locally-produced vehicles long derided as “death wagons” and boosted the prices of aging, second-hand iPhones.

They also provide Iran with much-needed tax revenues as its government struggles under international sanctions over its nuclear programme. Uncertainty over how U.S. President Donald Trump will deal with Iran also has put pressure on its rial currency, which sits at record lows against the dollar.

Powerful forces within Iran long have been believed to be taking advantage of the sanctions, while those benefiting may just be among the country’s most well-off citizens.