Apple Is Racist?!?

A woman in Alpharetta, Georgia, was denied a sale by an Apple Representative on grounds that she was from Iran.

The  story  goes something like this: the woman was trying to buy an iPad and was speaking Farsi with her uncle. An Apple representative approached her and asked the young woman what language she was speaking. She told him it was Farsi, and that she was from Iran, after which the employee refused to sell them anything. He said said that it was Apple policy not to sell products to Iranians: 'I just can't sell this to you. Our countries have bad relations." Sahar Sabet, the young woman, left the store in tears, feeling "hurt and embarassed".

Why exactly did this happen? According to Apple, the employee was simply following the company's commitment to US policy which states that "the exportation, sale or supply from the U.S. to Iran of any Apple goods is strictly prohibited without authorization by the U.S. government".

This isn't the first occurrence of this kind. Zack Jafarzadeh tried to buy an iPhone for his Iranian friend, who was in the States on a visa, but was denied service when employees learned of his nationality. "I would say if you're trying to buy an iPhone, don't tell them anything about Iran. That would be your best bet", said Zack.

Amy Napier Viteri, a Channel 2 reporter, went to the same Apple store in Georgia to repeat the experience, and managed to get the refusal on tape. The employee reitared the policy, stating they are not allowed to sell to anyone from Iran. To me, this is troubling, as it seems to be a much more strict interpretation of the actual US policy, and to support this, Jafarzadeh says that he wasn't asked whether or not he intended to take the Apple product out of the country or into Iran - only what his nationality was.

Naturally, there has been some backlash against Apple's treatment of this policy. "I feel like this is racial profiling against Iranians and I'm appalled," Jafarzadeh said, and Sabet went further commenting that she felt discriminated and racially profiled: "He didn't have any business asking me what country I was from". The Council of American-Islamic Relations has already started an action to change the corporate policy. "Apple must revise its policies to ensure that customers do not face discriminatory treatment based on their religion, ethnicity or national origin,” said CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad. “If the actions of these Apple employees reflected company policy, that policy must be changed and all employees retrained.” In light of the events caught on tape, the National Iranian American Council is also asking Apple to review its policies.

I felt like I should discuss this story, even though I'm not American myself. Why? Well, to me it's just the kind of screw up you'd expect when nationally targeted sanctions and restrictions end up hurting the wrong people. The problem is that both Zack and Sabet are U.S. citizens. Apple refused the sale of these products to people based on their ethnicity, not nationality. The corporation is also required only to limit its sale of products, in order to prevent their iPads and iPhones from getting to Iran. However, according to Zack and other customers, salesmen didn't even ask them whether they planned on setting the product abroad to Iran or keeping it for themselves. Simply assuming any Iranian customer is going to mail the tablet overseas is biased and disrespectful. I understand a corporation being particularly strict with limitations imposed by a government, I understand their fear of skirting the ambiguities of such laws - after all, it's safer to simply refuse to sell to Iranians rather than rely on their word that the product will remain in the US. However, it's another thing entirely to base your sale or refusal on ethnicity alone - that is no doubt discrimination and racial profiling, and Apple should be ashamed.


The governmental policy Apple is observing prohibits the sale or export of their products to Iran. It does not prohibit the sale of said products to people of Iranian descent, origin or ethnicity themselves. Those customers that were turned down were US citizens, on US soil. Yet apple refuses to sell those products based on ethnicity alone - we're not talking about exporting to Iran, they're just too afraid to have their products turn up in Iran and then get some legal heat. Which leads to this discriminatory situation: if you're an US citizen, living in the US, but happen to be of Iranian ethnicity, Apple won't sell you their stuff. That's ethnicity-based discrimination, and it's wrong.