Apple Pulling Iranian Apps From App Store Due to U.S. Sanctions

[Cineplex]

Where's Tim's rainbow flag of inclusion now? I thought he was world champion of the rights of others? Where's his MLK quoting press release of the injustice? His open letter of freedom? Hmm...Guess he doesn't care about people he isn't selling iPhones to. Maybe if there were bathroom problems he'd care more. More proof of just how fake he is.

 

[Zirel]

The US knows this. The point is to put the people through so much pain and death that they revolt. The US then funds terrorist groups involved in the revolt they created, and ousts the government in favour of one that agrees to giving in to corporate America's agenda.

If that’s the plan, the last part is not working, except that people revolt against the US.

Cuba and North Korea still are dictatorships.

 

[arkitect]

Gosh, imagine supporting something like this. Poor Iranians.

Indeed.
I do not understand why the US and allies insist on pushing that country back into the medieval age.

And then when the inevitable **** hits the fan, the Yanks stand around and ask, "But why don't you love us? Why do you do this to us?"
FFS.

 

[rodpascoe]

Tim will only pull off the Iranian (Shia) version of Koran, which the Orange POTUS White House is demanding for him to do. But the Wahabbi Jihadist Extremist September 11 Killing Saudi Arabian Koran will remain, because those Saudi Wahabbi September 11 Killers are all friends and business partners of the Orange POTUS and American capitalism.
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The same Apple-haters whine when Apple does obey the law. And they are the same crybabies when Apple does exploit loopholes in the law (overseas tax evasion). Lots of hypocrites in MR with morals even worse than Apple's.

(overseas tax avoidance)

Corrected that for you as evasion is illegal whilst avoidance is just being sensible.

 

[iDento]

I'm not advocating for any side but how else do you fight a war?

What war? There's no war! Stop watching TV.

 

[valdikor]

After China, again it seems that Apple's "courage" only goes so far.
Law is law, but some goodwill on Apple's part would be welcome - they should have communicated with the developers to find a solution perhaps.

There are millions of iOS and Mac users in Iran. They'd love to pay Apple for their products and services if they were given the option. They create US or EU-based Apple IDs and buy gift cards from resellers with terrible markup just to be able to to pay for apps, music and Apple services. So they are Apple's customers. This is a stab in their back.

 

[sorcery]

The war that Republican warmongers in Congress have wanted for years: the war to topple the Islamic Republic of Iran, for regime change. This is what Netanyahu wants, for the USA to lead the charge against destroying the Islamic Republic.

Ah yes, gottcha

 

[Solomani]

(overseas tax avoidance)

Corrected that for you as evasion is illegal whilst avoidance is just being sensible.

Thanks. I actually did mean what you said, tax avoidance. I too believe that Apple is following US corporate tax laws as written, albeit using legal loopholes.

I used the word "evasion"….. as the word avoidance evaded me at the time.

 

[macduke]

Yet countries like Saudi Arabia with horrific human rights violations and was the home country for most of the 9/11 attackers always gets away scott-free because of oil deals. Look at a map of the Middle East. Look at big ol' juicy, oily Iran sitting there in the middle. We've attacked all around it. They're bloodthirsty for more oil. They should be spending money on green energy initiatives instead of the military industrial complex. Instead of threatening and killing people we should be the ones showing them a better way. There's so much free energy available all around us, and yet they don't want to tap into it because it won't line their pocket books. But it would make America great again because we'd have cleaner air and practically free unlimited energy with no reliance on anyone but ourselves. And that proves my point that at the end of the day, they don't actually care about the country and our future.

 

[guzhogi]

I'm not advocating for any side but how else do you fight a war?

Easier said than done idea: I wish there was a better & easier way to make surgical strikes against those in power/doing harm, while keeping civilians and people not related to the problem clear from the devastation instead of broad-stroke, carpet bombing that affects everyone. Throw in some humanitarian aid to the civilians affected, help (re)build infrastructure like roads, houses, hospitals, schools, water & food sources, etc. Then maybe people in other countries wouldn't hate us so much. But easier said than done. Plus, to be fair, I'm not in the military nor politics so what do I know?

 

[DEMinSoCAL]

I don't understand how Iranians are using the U.S. App Store? Don't you have to be IN the U.S. for the U.S. App Store to allow you to use it?

Can't the Iranian developers use a different country's App Store that doesn't have sanctions?

Doesn't seem like that big a deal if that IS the case...

 

[Glockworkorange]

Just USE bombs

What the heck! This is a BAD decision. This is the ugly face of the post-pc devices future, where everything is centralized and people can be put out of business from one day to the next one. I hope this episode as well as the VPN crackdown in China make people realize that we need an alternative to Apple app store on iOS. And no, jailbreaking is not an alternative.
iOS gatekeeper would be one.
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Yes, for the US is either sanctions or bombs...that's the problem

Or we could capitulate, allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon and threaten all it's neighbors in the Middle East. There are some regimes and people that cannot be negotiated and reasoned with.

 

[valdikor]

I don't understand how Iranians are using the U.S. App Store? Don't you have to be IN the U.S. for the U.S. App Store to allow you to use it?

Can't the Iranian developers use a different country's App Store that doesn't have sanctions?

Doesn't seem like that big a deal if that IS the case...

Apple account country is determined solely by your billing address and payment method, never by your geographic location (unlike e.g. Netflix). Iranians have to use Apple IDs registered to other countries, because setting up Iran as your country is not even an option. It's just completely missing from the list.
And the apps have been removed from ALL the stores, not just from the Iranian one - not least because there is no Iranian App Store in the first place.

 

[DEMinSoCAL]

Apple account country is determined solely by your billing address and payment method, never by your geographic location (unlike e.g. Netflix). Iranians have to use Apple IDs registered to other countries, because setting up Iran as your country is not even an option. It's just completely missing from the list.
And the apps have been removed from ALL the stores, not just from the Iranian one - not least because there is no Iranian App Store in the first place.

So all these Iranians have US billing addresses and US credit cards? How is that?

Just to be clear, I didn't say (or infer) there was an Iranian App Store. I understood from the article that the apps are being removed from the US App Store (or just the App Store, in general).

 

[justperry]

Indeed.
I do not understand why the US and allies insist on pushing that country back into the medieval age.

And then when the inevitable **** hits the fan, the Yanks stand around and ask, "But why don't you love us? Why do you do this to us?"
FFS.

I have been in Iran, beautiful place with the nicest people in the world.
I think most Americans don't even realise the above, either they are brainwashed have little education or just not interested except in their own country.

You know what's funny, ask an American where he/she's from and most likely they will say Canadian.(When in Asia/central-south America and lots of other places)

 

[jephrey]

We've had sanctions with Iran since the 80s.
These extended sanctions, from what I read, deal with them testing ballistic missiles shortly after we "put them on notice". Glockworkorange noticed this.

If you think we should just let Iran develop these weapons, that's one opinion.

If you think we should NOT let Iran develop these weapons, how would you go about stopping them? Please be specific, there are a lot of comments on here that point fault at the sanctions, but 0 solutions to deal with what the sanctions are meant to achieve.

 

[valdikor]

So all these Iranians have US billing addresses and US credit cards? How is that?

Just to be clear, I didn't say (or infer) there was an Iranian App Store. I understood from the article that the apps are being removed from the US App Store (or just the App Store, in general).

Yes. I live in Europe and use a US Apple ID, although I have no US credit card. I pay with PayPal where I transfer money from my EU account or I buy gift cards when they're on sale. US prices are much better (no VAT and $/€ fluctuations), there's more content available and in Europe we have no such thing as gift card deals, full prices all the way. Meh.

Iranians basically do the same, they just buy the gift cards with cash when they can get them.

My girlfriend is from Iran and lives there. We have family sharing set up, so she can access all my purchased content and I can get her a gift card to refill her balance easily anytime. It sucks that we have to do it this way though and other Iranians may not be that fortunate.

 

[Mtmspa]

Good move by Apple.

 

[Sefstah]

As was said above, Apple didn't make up the sanction laws. The Trump White House and Congress did. Donald Trump and the Republicans in Congress are the ones that dream of invading and waging war with Iran. The warmonger Republicans have been wanting to destroy Iran for decades. They want to sabotage any treaties (e.g. the negotiated nuclear program treaty) with Iran.

Apple has no choice but to follow the US sanction laws or it will be held in criminal contempt by US State Department and courts.

Easy workaround. An Iranian American can just submit the apps here from the states. BOOM!
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If you have a business in the US and you would also have to stop doing business with Iran.

Yes, because there is absolutely no illegal trade between the US and other countries right?

 

[Alenore]

Just USE bombs

Or we could capitulate, allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon and threaten all it's neighbors in the Middle East. There are some regimes and people that cannot be negotiated and reasoned with.

I never quite understood that argument about nuclear weapon. I mean, the simple fact that we find it so horrifying and yet still keep them around "just in case" because of their dissuasive power goes against the whole point.
You can't have a weapon you show to everyone and prevent them to get one as well because it could threaten other people, just like you're doing to prevent them building one. Hypocrisy at its finest.

 

[Nunyabinez]

I never quite understood that argument about nuclear weapon. I mean, the simple fact that we find it so horrifying and yet still keep them around "just in case" because of their dissuasive power goes against the whole point.
You can't have a weapon you show to everyone and prevent them to get one as well because it could threaten other people, just like you're doing to prevent them building one. Hypocrisy at its finest.

Apparently, you are too young to remember the analogy of standing waste deep in gasoline with a fist full of matches. If using your match on your opponent means that you burn to death, then you are not going to light it. The term was "mutually assured destruction"

What you don't want is a lunatic showing up with his own matches. It's one thing for Russia, China, the US, etc. to have these matches, and another to give it to Iran and North Korea.

And disarming doesn't work, because as soon as one side thinks they could actually "win" a nuclear war, there is a chance that they would actually start one. But lunatics don't care if they can win, they are just insane, so we can't let them have them.

People complain about all the nukes, but how many launches have there been since WWII?

 

[tshrimp]

Finally Apple doing the right thing.

 

[saudade]

Sorry but what does Iranian mean?

 

[iDento]

Can't they make an Iraqi account and distribute their apps now that Iraq is Made in USA?

 

[zorinlynx]

This is another example of why Apple should just enable sideloading on iOS devices.

If you can sideload apps, it's no longer Apple distributing them, and people in these countries will be able to use what they want to use.

Apple is using the "we must follow the law!" excuse when they could instead open up side loading and wash their hands of the responsibility. But no, they want to keep their iron grip on iOS.

The Mac allows you to run any application you want from any source, and is a successful, popular platform. Why not do the same for iOS?