Ministry of Communications Announces Delay in Implementation of Mobile Phone Registration

The Iranian Ministry of Communications and Information Technology announced that the implementation of the registration plan for mobile phones has been postponed. Simultaneously, the head of the Research Center of the Parliament reported sending a letter to the Speaker of Parliament regarding ambiguities surrounding this plan. According to Fars News Agency, the head of the Public Relations Center of the Ministry of Communications stated on Saturday, August 2, that the necessary preparations for implementing the registration plan have not yet been made, and information will be provided before the plan is executed. Mohammad Reza Farnaghi Zadeh also mentioned that phones imported before the implementation of the registration plan will not be included in this plan. This statement comes despite Abdul Majid Ejtehadi, the director general of the anti-smuggling organization, announcing that the mobile phone registration plan began on August 1. The Anti-Smuggling Headquarters had previously announced the implementation of the mobile phone serial registration plan starting from the first of August, stating that new phones whose International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) numbers are not registered in the specific system will not have access to the mobile network. Meanwhile, on Wednesday, July 30, two Apple product stores in Iran were closed, and media outlets linked the closure of these stores to the registration plan. However, the Anti-Smuggling Headquarters announced on Saturday that the closure of several mobile phone retail units was carried out by 'judicial order' and had 'no relation' to the implementation of the mobile phone registration plan. This new announcement comes as Abbas Nakhaei, one of the managers of this headquarters, stated in an interview on July 27 that Apple has until the implementation of the mobile phone registration plan to establish a representative office in Iran. He emphasized that 'a directive has been issued to collect mobile phones of this brand, and if a representative office is not established, their mobile phones will be collected.' Besides Apple, several other companies, including Microsoft and Motorola, also do not have official representation in Iran. The mobile phone registration plan was also implemented in 2006 but faced significant criticism and was ultimately halted. The Research Center of the Parliament previously reported that official imports of mobile phones in 2006 were half of those in 2005. According to this center, actions such as 'increasing import tariffs on mobile phones and promises of producing national phones and delays in their production' have 'enriched sellers and some smugglers and brokers.' Meanwhile, Kazem Jalali, the head of the Research Center of the Parliament, stated on Saturday that 'the unsuccessful experience of implementing the mobile registration plan in 2006 frightens us.' According to Mr. Jalali, in that year, 185,000 mobile phones were 'registered with only one serial number, and a series of flaws in this plan led to abuse, copying, and damage to the public.' He added, 'Rumors circulated at that time that individuals wanted to profit financially from this situation, and after achieving this goal, the plan was canceled.' The head of the Research Center of the Parliament described the mobile phone registration as a 'hasty' plan that lacks 'expert thought and national power behind it.' Mr. Jalali also announced that a letter regarding the ambiguities of this plan has been sent to Ali Larijani, the Speaker of Parliament.