Samsung Group

The Samsung logo appears on the website of the Iranian IT security and surveillance firm, Hoortash Ryan Aflak (“Hoortash” a.k.a. “Hortash”).

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"Tehran threatened to ban entry of Samsung Electronics employees and registration of mobile phones in Samsung label in protest to the Korean company’s decision to restrict Iranian access to its smartphone service.The list of measures against Samsung is ready,” said Mohammad Jafar Na’nakar, head of the legal department at the Ministry of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in Iran, reported Iran’s state-run Press TV on Tuesday (local time).

The announcement came after the news that Samsung Electronics decided to stop the service of its Galaxy Store app in Iran." (Pulse, "Iran warns of punitive actions on Samsung Elec for its phone service restriction," 2/19/2020).

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On Friday, referring to the two Korean giants Samsung and LG that have left the Iranian market under the pressure of the U.S. sanctions, Iran's Foreign Ministry Spokesman said it would be much more difficult to return later for those who were "strong-armed by the United States to leave". Iran was a key market for the products of the two South Korean companies including TV and audio sets, home appliances, air conditioners and mobile phones....Both companies assembled some of their products in Iran but cut down on providing products and parts to Iran and have now completely stopped. In his tweet on Friday which came with a photo of workers pulling down a Samsung banner, Mousavi said that Iranians will "not forget friends who stand by their side at times of hardship". The two companies which stopped selling to Iran two years ago under the pressure of sanctions had not stopped their advertising in Iran. 

Samsung, like most other leading brands, stopped directly selling smartphones to Iran when the sanctions began. Samsung was officially represented in Iran and used to run after-sales service centers in major cities.

However, illegally imported smartphones of various brands such as Samsung and Apple are still quite abundant in the market." (Radio Farda, "Iran Warns Korean Giants Forced By Sanctions Not To Leave Market," 2/15/2020).

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"Among Asian businesses rethinking their dealings with Iran are banks, oil companies and technology giants including Huawei Technologies Co., Lenovo Group, LG Electronics Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co. South Korean consumer-electronics giants Samsung and LG already have reduced exposure to Iran and are consulting with government officials in Seoul to determine whether they must withdraw from the nation entirely following the end of U.S. oil waivers, according to business people in Tehran who work with the companies. Iran had been financing purchases from both companies with funds generated from the sale of oil and crude-based products." (Wall Street Journal, "Asian Companies Pull Back From Iran Amid U.S. Pressure," 4/24/2019).

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"Pyeongchang Olympic organizers said they had apologized to Iran on Friday after a diplomatic furor over its athletes being denied special Samsung phones issued for the Games. The head of the Pyeongchang organizing committee, Lee Hee-beom, confirmed he had written to the Iranian team “to apologize for the misunderstanding." The committee had initially claimed the phones were denied “because of existing UN sanctions,” even though all UN sanctions on Iran were lifted in 2015 apart from those linked to arms and nuclear technology. Samsung billboards and flagship stores are seen all over Iran, and the South Korean company has sponsored many large-scale cultural events, including the current exhibition at the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art." (February 10, 2018). 

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"South Korea's tech giant Samsung - that has just finished a major oil project in Iran - says it is determined to continue working in the Iranian oil industry. Sun Lee, a top Samsung official in Iran, has told reporters that his company hopes to win new projects in that sector. He also said the company will continue offering maintenance and spare parts supply services for a mega floating oil export terminal for Iran that it finished on 8 February. Sun emphasized that the construction of the terminal - dubbed Persian Gulf - was made possible through overcoming severe financial problems, the Persian-language newspaper Forsat-e Emrooz reported. He said the high quality of the terminal is proportionate to Iran's crude export conditions, adding that this terminal will play an important role in Iran's oil industry. The Persian Gulf terminal - that has been described as the world's largest - has a total capacity of 2.2 million barrels and can store some 200,000 barrels per day of heavy crude oil produced in Iran's offshore oil fields of Soroush and Nowruz. South Korea's Samsung started building the terminal in 2008 and finished it on 8 February 2015 at a cost of about $300 million." (Press TV, "Samsung wants more Iran oil projects," 2/9/15)

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"Iran is in talks with three Japanese and South Korean oil and gas companies to invest in its oil and gas projects, Head of Investment Committee of the National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC) Asghar Soheilipour said. He said that Japan's Mitsubishi and South Korea's LG and Samsung are negotiating with NIGC to design, establish, and install gas refineries and pipelines, Iran's Mehr news agency reported on Jan. 13. Some Japanese and Italian companies have announced readiness to implement projects even before lifting the international sanctions, he noted." (Trend, "Iran in Talks with Japanese, Korean Oil and Gas Companies," 1/13/15)

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"Head of the investment committee of the Iran National Gas Company (INGC) Asghar Soheilipour said that his company was offering information about Iran's top priority gas projects to potential foreign and domestic investors... The official referred to Mitsubishi, LG and Samsung as corporations having announced readiness for making investments in Iran gas projects." (IRNA, "Official: Foreign firms eying investment in Iran gas industry," 1/3/15)

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“Iranian telecommunications minister Mahmoud Vaezi has criticized Samsung for cutting the access to Samsung's mobile app store for Iranian users, ISNA reported on March 16. Mahmoud Vaezi said Samsung should resolve the problem as soon as possible. Representative of Samsung in Iran has pledged to resume the service as of April 6, 2014, Vaezi added. Iranian device users lost access to Samsung's mobile app store as of May 22, 2013. The Korean electronics giant said that it couldn't provide access to the store because of 'legal barriers'. Many sanctions have been imposed on Iran over its nuclear program, and Samsung's step is viewed as the latest such measure. Unlike Apple, Microsoft and Adobe, Samsung provided localized services to Iranians in Persian language. It also isn't the first handset vendor to pull back from Iran. Nokia stopped its services in the country last year. On June 9, 2013, the Tasnim News Agency quoted Tehran Chamber of Commerce member Mohammad-Hossein Barkhordar as saying that Samsung will lift ban on Iranian users to access app store sooner or later. Samsung took the decision in order to show off in the international arena, but it retreated from the decision and found out that it was wrong, Barkhordar said.” (Trend, “Iranian telecom minister criticizes Samsung,” 3/16/14)

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"But its population of about 75 million includes a sizeable urban middle class who have been avid consumers of foreign-made goods, including Samsung and Sony electronics and Peugeot cars." (Reuters, "Iran says it will cut imports of non-essential goods," 10/15/2012)

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"After being hit by European and U.S. sanctions, Iran's oil sales are stabilizing as the country entices buyers with attractive prices and a form of barter. But proposed new U.S. restrictions could further bite into its crude exports later this year . . . A form of barter set up by Iran provides an incentive to keep—or in the case of Seoul, to resume—its crude purchases. Faced with banking sanctions that impede its ability to receive crude proceeds and settle its bills for imported goods, the Islamic Republic increasingly gets paid into accounts based in the Asian countries where it sells the oil and in their local currency. Iranian traders then draw on the reserves to purchase goods exported to Iran. South Korean products are ubiquitous in Tehran—from smartphones made by Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. to LG Electronics Inc. televisions and even costume dramas on local televisions; Iranian imports from the country amounted to $6 billion last year." (Wall Street Journal, "Iran Barters and Bargains to Help Oil Sales," 8/7/12)

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"South Korea has imposed curbs on exports to Iran - mainly steel, cars and electronics - to reduce its risk of payment defaults as western sanctions disrupt Iranian oil exports, highlighting the growing risk of doing business with the Islamic Republic. The move to limit the trade exposure of Asia's fourth-largest economy, which sold $1.7 billion of goods in Iran in the first quarter of this year, was announced by South Korea's leading trade and business body and came into effect this week…Export quotas could be imposed on products including Samsung Electronics' mobile phones and Hyundai Motor's vehicles, a source has told Reuters."  (Reuters, "South Korea limits Iran exports on payment concerns," 6/14/12)

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"Export quotas could be imposed on products including Samsung Electronics' mobile phones and Hyundai Motor's vehicles, one of the sources said... Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics accounted for a combined 30 percent of Iran's mobile phone market, Korean major newspaper Dong-a Ilbo reported in January." (Reuters, "South Korea may limit exports to Iran on payment concerns: sources," 5/17/2012)

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"Samsung, an electronics giant, markets its products in Iran, according to its website."  From 2000-2009, the company received $476.4 million US federal funds.  Their activities in Iran are currently active.  (The New York Times, "Profiting from Iran, and the US," 3/6/2010)

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"Nestle has been the target of protests by Islamists since the Gaza onslaught began, some Iranian websites said. It is among a small number of foreign companies which have factories in Iran, which notably also includes French automaker Renault. Others, such as South Korean group Samsung, market their products in the Islamic republic. Some, particularly in the oil and gas sector, have operated in the country for some time, such as Frances Total and Anglo-Dutch Shell." (Agence France Presse, "Iran to punish firms trading with Israel," 1/12/09)

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"GIANTS WITH A FOOT IN TEHRAN: Total, Shell, Statoil, BNP Paribas, Commerzbank, MTN, UPS, Linde, Technip, Nokia, Ericsson, Peugeot, Renault, OMV, Societe Generale, ENI, Mitsubishi, Sumitomo, Siemens, LG, Samsung, Bosch, Valeo, Nestle, Unilever, BAT, Japan Tobacco." (The London Times, "American pressure threatens UK firms," 5/27/06)