The cut for high-end iPhones makes them a lucrative option to plug some of the gaping holes in Iran's government spending — though Iran's foreign currency reserves remain low due to sanctions.
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, now 85, first proposed the idea nearly 15 years ago as Tehran faced its first round of intense sanctions over its nuclear program, which the West fears puts the Islamic Republic at the precipice of obtaining an atomic bomb.
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.
Such decisions also provide a quick win for Iran's reformist President Masoud Pezeshkian with Iran's elite — though it doesn't address any of the longer-term economic problems.
Iran banned the import of foreign cars in 2017, while not allowing iPhones newer than the 13 to be registered on the country’s mobile phone networks.
