How do you get a mobile phone number in Iran in 2026?

Go to a branded MCI (Hamrah-e Aval), MTN Irancell, or Rightel kiosk in IKA arrivals, or to a city store in Tehran, Isfahan, or Shiraz. Irancell’s English help page lists foreign-national documents as passport, Amaiesh card (temporary residence permit), refugee card, or identity card. Visitiran’s practical guide adds that staff copy the passport and an Iranian address; a hotel address is accepted. Pay in cash after you change euros or dollars to rials, because foreign plastic often fails at the desk.

Stay until the SIM places a call or loads data. Visitiran names the three national operators and warns that idle lines can deactivate after about three months without use. MCI is the usual pick for highway and provincial coverage. Irancell is the visitor-facing brand at many IKA booths. Rightel is stronger in denser urban belts than on long mountain roads.

English may work at airport kiosks, yet city forms and SMS can still arrive in Persian. The same friction shows up when you handle bureaucracy and English for other desks in Tehran.

Buying the SIM is not the same as registering the phone. Iran’s ICT visitor-phone guidance says a foreign handset can generally use an Iranian SIM for about 30 days from the first network connection without customs registration. If you stay longer, or you enter and leave often, register the IMEI at customs offices at entry points and pay the listed duties. Without that step, the device can lose operator service after the visitor window.

A tourist line is enough for maps and WhatsApp in the first weeks. Longer residence, banks, and many official files also expect a FIDA code and a clearer residence path. Neighbourhood choice still shapes signal and daily costs: Where to live in Iran and Tehran cost of living.

Many international travel eSIM brands never attach cleanly to Iranian networks, and payment cards from abroad often fail at the booth. If you want data on the journey before an Iranian prepaid SIM is registered, an eSIM for the first days can cover outbound legs where that profile already works.

That travel profile is not your Iranian mobile number. It will not receive the local OTPs that Iranian apps and later bank desks expect. Use it only as a bridge until MCI, Irancell, or Rightel finishes passport registration, then keep the Iranian SIM in the phone.