--- title: MTN’s Iran problem: can’t stay, can’t leave | daily.dev description: MTN Group CEO Ralph Mupita confirmed the company wants to exit its 49% stake in Iranian mobile operator Irancell but is trapped by US-led sanctions that... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/mtn-s-iran-problem-can-t-stay-can-t-leave-r3omif85i twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: MTN’s Iran problem: can’t stay, can’t leave | daily.dev og:description: MTN Group CEO Ralph Mupita confirmed the company wants to exit its 49% stake in Iranian mobile operator Irancell but is trapped by US-led sanctions that... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/mtn-s-iran-problem-can-t-stay-can-t-leave-r3omif85i og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/r3OMIF85I.png og:image:alt: MTN’s Iran problem: can’t stay, can’t leave og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # MTN’s Iran problem: can’t stay, can’t leave **[TechCentral](https://daily.dev/sources/techcentral)** · 4 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary MTN Group CEO Ralph Mupita confirmed the company wants to exit its 49% stake in Iranian mobile operator Irancell but is trapped by US-led sanctions that prevent both capital repatriation and a clean divestment. MTN has had no executives on the ground in Iran since January 2025 and lost board representation at Irancell. The majority state-backed shareholders appointed a new Irancell CEO without consulting MTN, breaching governance norms. Iran accounts for 4% of MTN's net assets and 7% of adjusted headline earnings, with around R2-billion in stuck loans and dividends. MTN also faces a US grand jury investigation into its Iran and Afghanistan dealings, plus a class-action lawsuit from families of US soldiers. Mupita pointed to Syria — where sanctions were lifted after the fall of Assad, enabling MTN to negotiate an exit — as a potential model for how an Iran departure could eventually happen. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. 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