MTN Group on Monday disclosed that it is now the subject of a grand jury investigation by the US department of justice.
The investigation will look into MTN’s operations in Afghanistan (now disposed of) and Iran (where it owns 49% of Irancell). Both countries are politically volatile and both face US sanctions (sweeping in the case of Iran and targeted at certain individuals in the case of Afghanistan).
“MTN has been approached, through its external US counsel, regarding a DoJ grand jury investigation relating to MTN Group, its former subsidiary in Afghanistan and Irancell,” MTN said in its 2025 interim financial results, which were published on Monday.
“MTN is cooperating with the DoJ and voluntarily responding to requests for information. The company will update the market as appropriate on any material developments in the matter.”
Grand juries do not decide on guilt or innocence but instead investigate a matter to determine if there is enough “probable cause” for formal charges to be brought. Depending on the outcome of the investigation, MTN could face a criminal trial in the US.
On Afghanistan, MTN faces a class-action lawsuit by a group of families and relatives of slain US soldiers who have claimed that the Johannesburg-listed group violated America’s Anti-Terrorism Act by providing support to terrorist groups in Afghanistan. The case, previously reported on by TechCentral, was brought in December 2019 and determined to have merit by a US district court.
Iran licence
MTN is alleged to have paid protection money to the Taliban in Afghanistan, endangering the lives of US servicemen and women.
MTN’s woes regarding its operations in the Middle East run deeper.
TechCentral reported in June that Turkish telecoms operator Turkcell had filed papers with South Africa’s constitutional court in its long-running battle against MTN Group over a controversial licence issued by the Iranian government nearly 20 years ago.
Read: MTN vs Turkcell: $4.2bn bribery lawsuit heads to SA’s top court
The move came after MTN and two of its former senior executives – Phuthuma Nhleko and Irene Charnley – filed papers at the country’s apex court appealing an earlier supreme court of appeal judgment that found the case could be heard in South Africa’s courts. Nhleko and Charnley held the positions of group CEO and executive vice president, respectively, at the time the Irancell deal was consummated.
Turkcell is seeking US$4.2-billion (R74-billion) in damages from MTN after it lost out in the bidding for a stake in second Iranian cellular licensee Irancell. It has alleged MTN only got the licence, which it said had been awarded to Turkcell initially, because it bribed senior Iranian and South African officials.
Both matters – the terrorism case in the US and the corruption case in South Africa – have put MTN in a precarious position amid the ongoing tensions between South Africa and the Trump administration in the US.
President Cyril Ramaphosa, who served as MTN board chairman from 2002 to 2013, in April announced current MTN board chairman Mcebisi Jonas as special envoy to the US. Jonas’s appointment came after the expulsion of former ambassador to the US, Ebrahim Rasool, over remarks about US foreign policy that were seen as disparaging to US president Donald Trump.
In an media call on Monday, MTN Group CEO Ralph Mupita said it is important to note that the DoJ has questioned MTN about its conduct in Iran and Afghanistan, but that the company has not been accused of any wrongdoing at this stage.
Read: Former MTN bosses approach SA’s top court in Turkcell case
“A lot of these things are a legacy … set of issues and we obviously have to spend a lot of time defending ourselves,” said Mupita. “Key government officials are well-briefed on these matters and they have their own perspectives, that’s all I’ll say.” — © 2025 NewsCentral Media
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