Stop Apple's Discrimination Against Iranian Americans

In some Apple stores, speaking Persian means you can’t buy their products.   That’s what happened to a 19-year old Iranian-American student who was prevented from buying an iPad when a clerk overheard her speaking Persian.    There have been additional reports of Apple employees preventing Iranian Americans and Iranian students from buying their products.    This is an insult to our community.  It is discrimination and racial profiling on the basis of sanctions and it must stop. NIAC's efforts have helped generate national and international news coverage, including on the BBC, MSNBC, and Al Jazeera.  But we must also tell Apple directly to put a stop to this discrimination.  Click "Take Action" to send a letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook today.

 

Key Resources:

NIAC’s Open Letter to Apple’s CEO (June 20, 2012)

NIAC President Trita Parsi's letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook urging Apple to take immediate steps to end discriminatory practices against Iranian Americans and Iranian visa holders in the United States.

NIAC Calls on Apple and US Government to End Sanctions Discrimination (June 19, 2012)

 NIAC calls on Apple to take immediate steps to ensure its policies do not discriminate against Iranian Americans and Iranians in the U.S. and on the U.S. government to take the necessary steps to ensure sanctions do not continue to be misapplied or over-enforced.

Letter to Apple from Coalition of Iranian American and Civil Liberties Organization (June 27, 2012)

 NIAC and a coalition of Iranian-American and civil rights organizations sent a letter to Apple demanding that the company investigate alleged discrimination, train its staff to enforce a non-discriminatory policy, and issue an apology.

Sanctions, Apple and You: What You Need to Know

Media reports about Apple stores refusing to sell iPhones and iPads to Iranian Americans and Iranian visa holders have been causing quite a stir. But how sanctions on Iran can affect Iranian Americans are less understood.

Anti-discrimination Resources   

Learn more about the various types of discrimination and what you can do if you are the victim of discrimination.

Report Discrimination

Have you been discriminated against by Apple or someone else? Let us know about it.

 

 

Related NIAC Articles:

Podcast: The Root Cause of Apple's Discrimination (Let's Talk Iran)

Sahar Sabet, one of the Iranian Americans recently denied from purchasing items from an Apple store, shares her account of the episode and NIAC Policy Director Jamal Abdi discusses how sanctions enforcement is the root cause.

Apple's 'Iran Policy' Shows Why We Can't Shy Away from Politics (Tehran Bureau)

None of us should be surprised that this is happening. Unintended consequences are the reality of broad sanctions. Given this reality, it's time to face the music. While some of us in our community may shy away from politics, we must recognize: this is a political issue, pure and simple. U.S.-Iranian relations affect all of us here at home in the United States, not just our friends and family members in Iran.

19-year old Georgia teen reiterates: Apple employee discriminated (NIAC inSight)

Sahar Sabet, the 19-year old Iranian American teenager at the center of the Apples discrimination controversy, issued a statement through her attorney today to “correct erroneous media and organizational reports” that were claiming Apple did not discriminate against her because they were just following the law.

U.S. Companies Blocking Communication Tools in Iran (NIAC inSight)

With Apple's vigilante-sanctions-enforcement/racial profiling of Iranian Americans receiving well-deserved attention, we wanted to spotlight similar over-enforcement of broad sanctions by tech companies impacting people inside Iran.