MTN Group CEO Ralph Mupita said the pan-African telecommunications giant would exit Iran if given the opportunity.
Speaking at the group’s annual results presentation for the year ended 31 December 2025 on Monday, Mupita painted a picture of a business that has become increasingly difficult to manage, with the group having no executives on the ground in Iran since the start of January and no participation on MTN Irancell’s board for some time.
The situation came to a head in January when the majority shareholders appointed a new Irancell CEO without consulting MTN — a process Mupita described as a clear breach of governance rules.
“The appointment of the CEO is made by majority shareholders there. The normal sequence of events is that we would get consulted around the change in CEO. In early January, that didn’t happen,” said Mupita.
“We did protest that [to say], ‘Historically, you’ve asked us, because we have sanctions and other processes that we want to check.’”
Former Irancell CEO Alireza Raflei was dismissed in January by state-backed shareholders for an alleged failure to enact government-ordered internet and voice call shutdowns during anti-government protests.
MTN holds a 49% non-controlling stake in Irancell. In his presentation, Mupita said Irancell’s contribution to the broader group is relatively modest.
Cut off
The Iranian operations account for just 4% of group net assets and about 7% of adjusted headline earnings. MTN also has around R2-billion in outstanding loans and dividends that have accumulated and remain stuck in the country.
US-led sanctions, in place since May 2018, have effectively cut Iran off from the Swift payments network and international financial infrastructure, making it impossible for MTN to move money in or out of the country in compliance with its sanctions obligations.
“You can’t put money in; you can’t take money out,” said Mupita.
Read: MTN vs Turkcell: $4.2bn bribery lawsuit heads to SA’s top court
With no path to capital repatriation and a governance relationship that has soured, MTN would prefer to exit — but the sanctions that make the business unworkable also make a clean exit nearly impossible. Simply walking away is not a legally viable option, Mupita noted, because MTN would technically remain the owner of the shares regardless.
“You can abandon [the investment] in a way that causes you more harm than you anticipated. It is a complicated and tricky situation and we are trying to manage it best we can.”
Another issue hanging over MTN is an ongoing US grand jury investigation into the group’s dealings in Iran and the now-disposed-of operation in Afghanistan.
MTN faces a class-action law suit filed by families of slain US soldiers who have claimed the mobile operator violated American anti-terrorism laws by supporting terror groups in Afghanistan. Regarding Iran, MTN and its former executives Phuthuma Nhleko and Irene Charnely face corruption allegations from Turkcell over how MTN acquired its operating licence there.
Read: US grand jury probing MTN over Iran, Afghanistan allegations
Grand juries do not decide on guilt or innocence, but the process could lead to a decision to bring formal charges to MTN depending on the outcome of the investigation. Mupita said MTN continues to voluntarily cooperate with US officials on the matter and will update the market should any material developments occur.
Mupita pointed to Syria as a potential template for what an exit could look like. Following the fall of the Assad regime, sanctions on Syria were lifted, allowing MTN to begin finalising a settlement agreement that would allow the group to formally exit its Syrian operations. The final settlement agreement was partly negotiated during Mobile World Congress in Barcelona earlier this month.
“I think you saw what happened in Syria — the sanctions got lifted, and now we’re busy finalising a settlement agreement. We’ll now be able to actually exit Syria,” said Mupita. — (c) 2026 NewsCentral Media
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