South African mobile operator MTN says US government probing it over its operations in Iran, Afghanistan

By bne IntelliNews August 19, 2025

South African mobile operator MTN Group (MTN) has disclosed that US authorities are investigating it over its conduct in Iran and Afghanistan.

News24 wrote on August 18 that Africa's largest mobile group by subscriber base is co-operating after being alerted recently through its US legal representatives of the US Department of Justice's grant jury probe.

MTN Group President and CEO, Ralph Mupita, the South Africa-based publication said, told journalists earlier that day that while the company is being investigated, it "was important to emphasise that MTN had not been accused of any wrongdoing."

According to News24, MTN is already facing civil lawsuits in the US, including from families of US soldiers who died in Afghanistan.  They allege that the mobile operator, which has 297.7mn customers across 16 markets on the African continent and Asia, paid protection money to al-Qaeda and the Taliban. MTN moved out of Afghanistan in April 2025.

Turkish telecoms firm Turkcell also has a case against MTN in South African courts, claiming that the company bribed Iranian officials to beat Turkcell to secure a stake in Tehran’s first private cellphone licence. MTN owns 49% in Irancell.

“So, a lot of these things are legacy, looking back, set of issues, and we obviously have to spend the time to defend ourselves ...,” Mupita is quoted as saying, adding that the company has briefed key South African government officials over the matters.

The news of the investigation, News24 noted, comes at a "sensitive" time, when the US is threatening some officials in President Cyril Ramaphosa's African National Congress (ANC) party with sanctions over their relationship with Iran.

Related Articles

Energy firms Eni and Apache plan gas output boost in Egypt

Italian energy firm Eni aims to produce around 120mn cubic feet per day (mmcfd) of natural gas from two new wells at Egypt’s Zohr field in the Mediterranean by November, according to a government ... more

Libya’s oil production hits 1.38mn barrels per day

Libya’s National Oil Corporation (NOC) announced on August 19 that crude oil production in the previous 24 hours had exceeded 1.38mn barrels, alongside an additional 50,000 barrels of condensates, ... more

Ghana becomes first African nation to export legal timber to EU under FLEGT licence

Ghana has issued its first timber legality licences, making it the first country in Africa and only the second in the world after Indonesia cleared to export timber to the European Union, reports ... more

Dismiss