MTN said that it would welcome any return to stability that supports the regional business landscape in the Middle East in the wake of negotiations between the U.S. and Iran.
This followed news that the United States had signed a memorandum of understanding with Iran as a precursor to peace negotiations, and reports of a positive first day of negotiations.
Crucially, one of the stipulations of the memorandum was the U.S. terminating all sanctions against Iran, which would pave the way for MTN to exit its stake in Irancell.
Since 2020, MTN’s strategy has been to exit the Middle East entirely. It has already divested its stakes in mobile operators in Syria, Afghanistan, and Yemen.
However, it said it has been unable to sell its stake in Irancell due to U.S. sanctions. It has been placed in a position where it must either abandon the business or hope for better days.
“You cannot take money in, and you cannot take money out,” MTN Group CEO Ralph Mupita has said, adding that the company’s investment in Iran was “a frozen asset”.
As a result of sanctions imposed by the United States on 20 September 2019, MTN can’t access R2.3 billion that is effectively frozen in its Iranian business.
The U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) imposed sanctions on Iran’s Central Bank for allegedly funding terrorist organisations.
“Iran’s Central Bank has provided billions of dollars to the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), its Qods Force (IRGC-QF), and its terrorist proxy, Hezbollah,” it stated.
At the time, OFAC had imposed the sanctions on the central bank after the country conducted military strikes on Saudi Arabia, a major U.S. partner.
“Iran’s brazen attack against Saudi Arabia is unacceptable,” OFAC said. “Treasury’s action targets a crucial funding mechanism that the Iranian regime uses to support its terrorist network.”
This pressure has made MTN’s 49% stake in Irancell one of its most challenging international business ventures.
Making matters worse for MTN is the uncertainty that, when the sanctions are lifted, there will be any money left in Irancell to take.
Since 2025, the Iranian Rial has weakened significantly against the U.S. dollar by as much as 45%. One U.S. dollar traded for as much as 1.6 million rials.
Iran is facing a systemic economic crisis amid continued conflict with Israel and the United States, and MTN was forced to watch its investment go up in flames.
In the results, the telecom stated that outstanding receivables from Iran amounted to R2.8 billion in 2024, indicating a near R500 million loss in value as of December 2025 — before the recent escalation.
This amount is likely to continue decreasing, despite Irancell’s ongoing operations. A point reflected in the latest results: MTN’s share of earnings in Irancell dropped 32% from the year prior to R3.2 billion.
Some good news for MTN came in paragraph 7 of the memorandum of understanding signed between the U.S. and Iran. It is reproduced verbatim below.
Michael Crowley, White House correspondent for The New York Times, said relief from crushing economic sanctions may be the only thing that can persuade Iran to surrender its nuclear programme.
Crowley wrote that this was the basis for the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, which traded sanctions relief for strict caps on Iran’s nuclear activity.
“Those caps were limited to a maximum of 15 years, however, and U.S. President Donald Trump says he wants much longer — or even permanent — constraints on Tehran’s nuclear programme.”
However, Crowley said a big challenge would be determining the “agreed-upon schedule” that establishes what sanctions the United States will remove, and when, as Iran fulfils its nuclear commitments.
“That will likely mean a gradual process in which the two mistrustful sides take alternating incremental steps.”
When MyBroadband asked MTN for comment about the memorandum and U.S.–Iran negotiations, it declined to speculate what a deal would mean for the company.
“As you know, since 2006, MTN Group has held a 49% investment in Irancell, which is not under MTN’s operational control,” it said.
“We would welcome any return to stability that supports the regional business landscape. We currently have no staff on the ground and continue monitoring developments.”
Source : www. mybroadband.co.za
