IRAN PROTESTS! Dark clouds gather over MTN

MTN should cut its losses and exit Iran, as it faces either reputational or financial harm if it fails to act following the outbreak of widespread protests against the country’s authoritarian theocratic regime.

That is the view of Iraj Abedian, economist and chief executive of Pan-African Capital Holdings, who said he was incredibly disappointed in the MTN board and its CEO, Ralph Mupita.

The most recent protests in Iran were sparked by frustration over inflation, food prices, and currency depreciation, but soon broadened to encompass broader anti-government sentiment.

The Khamenei regime responded with a brutal crackdown on protestors. It also imposed an Internet blackout, which companies like MTN Irancell were required to implement.

However, the blackout did not prevent reports and some images of the violence from being published online.

The reports coming out of Iran were so damning that the South African government was forced to break its silence on 15 January 2026, a week after the Internet blackout started.

South Africa and Iran enjoy close economic and diplomatic relations, a situation which drew the ire of the current administration in the United States under Donald Trump.

Iran has faced escalating sanctions from the U.S. in response to its nuclear programme during the administrations of presidents from both major political parties.

“The reports of unrest and the subsequent loss of life are concerning, and South Africa urges all parties to exercise maximum restraint,” the South African Presidency said in a statement on Thursday.

“South Africa firmly believes that the right to peaceful protest, freedom of expression, and freedom of association are universal human rights that must be upheld without exception.”

The Presidency called on the Iranian authorities to ensure that citizens exercise their right to protest in peace.

“Sustainable peace and stability can only be achieved through solutions that centre the agency of the Iranian people.”

No-win situation for MTN

MTN currently faces multiple civil court cases and a U.S. grand jury inquiry over its historical and ongoing operations in the Middle East.

While little has been disclosed about the grand jury investigation, the plaintiffs in the civil damages cases allege that MTN paid bribes to the Taliban and contributed to U.S. military casualties.

MTN has denied the civil damages allegations and stated that it was fully cooperating with the U.S. Department of Justice in the grand jury inquiry.

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 explained, adding that the company’s investment in Iran was “a frozen asset”.

Abedian, speaking to BizNews in a recent interview, said that MTN is in a position where it will either be seen as a collaborator or perceived as supporting the brutality of the Khamenei regime.

He said that if he were on MTN’s board, he would advise caution against the sunk cost fallacy influencing future strategy.

“MTN finds itself in a cul-de-sac. Therefore, cut your losses and align yourself away from the dictators, from the oppressors, from the holocaust of the 21st century, and rescue what is left of your brand.”

Aside from the moral failure and falling short of its ESG principles, Abedian said that MTN is exposing itself and its shareholders to significant financial risk by remaining in Iran.

“Iranians will raise a claim against MTN as a collaborator, holding it responsible for many deaths, the same way the Jews did after the Second World War against organisations and companies in Europe,” he said.

“There is precedence for it, and MTN can rest assured that there will be future claims against them.”

Abedian said that MTN has been buying time, hoping for Godot to arrive. “They were hoping that Qatar would act as an intermediary, buy their shares, and house it in a blind trust,” he said.

“That also did not work out, and it will not work out for them to exit their investment.”

MTN denies Qatar plan

MyBroadband contacted MTN for comment, and it denied that there was ever a plan to exit its Irancell investment via a Qatari blind trust.

“As you know, since 2006, MTN Group has held 49% investment in Irancell, which is not under MTN’s operational control,” it stated.

“The Group has not extracted any capital or dividends, nor deployed any capital into, the Iran business since May 2018, when US sanctions were re-imposed against Iran.”

MTN noted that this was after the US exited the Joint Comprehensive Plan of the Action Deal, also known as the Iran nuclear deal or simply the Iran deal.

It did not respond to questions about the Internet blackout in Iran or about Starlink making its services free in the country.

An industry source previously told MyBroadband that in countries that impose Internet blackouts, such as Eswatini and Iran, MTN has no choice but to comply.

Attempting to resist the government’s demands would put them on the wrong side of the law and endanger employees and their families.