Apple has removed two messenger apps developed by Iranian programmers from the company's iOS App Store. Soroush and Bale are the out-of-luck apps targeted by Apple this time around.
Apple has been marking some Iranian apps for over a year now, removing applications at random and sometimes adding them back.
Soroush and Bale are the first local messenger apps that have been removed from the store.
Apple has not yet issued a statement in regard with the messenger apps.
Last year the company deleted several Iranian major applications from its app store, including Delion (food delivery service), DigiKala (Amazon-like retailer), AloPeyk (parcel delivery service), Takhfifan (group buying website) and Alibaba (online travel agency).
At the time, Apple sent emails to some of the CEOs of the companies explaining the removal, linking the move to US sanctions. A close reading of US laws by Financial Tribune show that the App Store is not obligated by law to delete Iranian apps.
Moreover, if Apple was operating under the law, they must have systematically removed all Iranian apps, instead of targeting a few at a time.
It is noteworthy that Iranian officials have been widely publicizing local messenger apps to replace Telegram. Telegram is the most popular messenger app among Iranians with 40 million users. Apple phones hold 11% of the country's mobile market.
