Keep your Iranian phone number active while abroad

Irancell's Persian prepaid agreement and its English agreement do not print the same inactivity paragraph. Keep an Iranian number active abroad by opening the Irancell card before you leave. The Persian tab says Irancell may act after notice, and the English tab says 16,240 Rials will be deducted.

The MCI pages and the Rightel pages opened on 6 October 2026 are not this card, so use the Irancell card when the SIM is Irancell. Saudi Arabia prints 180 days and 360 days on two stc pages, a split between two SIM lengths rather than two languages of one tab. Open Doors Fast Facts for 2025 prints 12,656 students from Iran in the United States in 2024/25, 1.1 percent of the total, a change of 1.8 percent from 12,430 in 2023/24.

What does the Persian Irancell tab print?

The Persian tab is the one that carries both the 90 days and the step that can take the number. Irancell's Persian prepaid agreement, checked 6 October 2026, states: "در صورتی که مشترک ظرف مدت ۹۰روز از تاریخ ثبت نام سیم کارت، اقدام به فعال سازی آن ننموده یا پس از فعالسازی، به مدت ۹۰روز متوالی هیچ تراکنشی (به جز تراکنش های رایگان) نداشته باشد، شرکت ایرانسل می تواند با انجام اطلاع رسانی لازم به روش زیر اقدام نماید: الف) در صورت وجود مانده اعتبار در حساب مشترکان سیم کارت های اعتباری، پس از گذشت یک دوره سه ماهه ونداشتن تراکنش، ضمن اطلاع رسانی لازم به مشترک مبلغی معادل حداکثر تعرفه ۲۰دقیقه نرخ مکالمه پایه تلفن همراه دائمی را از اعتبار مشترک کسر نموده و پس از آن در صورت ادامه روند نداشتن تراکنش، به ازای هر دو ماه و تا زمان اتمام اعتبار مشترک، معادل همین مبلغ را از حساب مشترک کسر نماید. ب) در صورت نبود مانده اعتبار در حساب مشترکان اعتباری یا اتمام اعتبار ایشان پیرو کسر اعتبار به شرح بند فوق،ایرانسل مختار است با انجام اطلاع رسانی لازم نسبت به قطع دو طرفه یا سلب امتیاز مشترک اقدام نماید."

If the subscriber does not activate the SIM within 90 days of registration, or after activation has no transaction except free transactions for 90 consecutive days, Irancell may, after the required notice, follow the two items in that paragraph. When credit remains, after a three-month period with no transaction, Irancell may deduct at most the tariff of 20 minutes of the postpaid base voice rate, then the same amount every two months until that credit is exhausted. When there is no remaining credit, or those deductions have exhausted it, Irancell may, after notice, two-way disconnect or expropriate. The postpaid rate is the yardstick for the amount. That paragraph prints no rial figure.

The opening uses 90 days. The first item uses a three-month period. Those are both on the page, and folding them into a single English span drops one of them. Day 90 is the condition under which Irancell may act. The loss of the number sits in the second item, and it is tied to there being no credit. May is the verb on the company in the opening, and may is the verb again when the credit is gone. Notice is printed before either item runs. On the same Persian page, two-way disconnect means any service is removed except voice calls to national emergency service codes. Whether a code that a bank sends counts as a free transaction, and so sits inside the exception, is unverified. The changelog dates this reading.

What does the English Irancell tab print?

The English file is the same tab id, and the paragraph is shorter. Irancell's English prepaid agreement, checked 6 October 2026, states: "If a prepaid SIM card subscriber has a remaining balance in their account and no transactions for a period of three months, after providing the necessary notification to the subscriber, an amount equal to the maximum tariff for 20 minutes of off-net mobile calls (16,240 Rials) will be deducted from the subscriber’s balance. If the lack of transactions continues, the same amount will be deducted every two months until the subscriber’s balance is depleted."

The subscriber in that paragraph has a remaining balance and has had no transactions for three months. After notice, 16,240 Rials will be deducted. The figure is the maximum tariff for 20 minutes of off-net mobile calls. If the lack of transactions continues, the same amount will be deducted every two months until the balance is depleted. The paragraph ends when the balance is depleted. The calls it names are off-net. The Persian item quoted above names the postpaid base voice rate and leaves the amount unpriced.

Pasting 16,240 Rials back onto the Persian paragraph reads the English file into the Persian one. What this paragraph prints is the remaining balance, the three months, the notice, and the rial deduction. The registration gate and the free-transaction exception are in the Persian opening quoted above. Whether roaming counts as a transaction on this sentence is unverified. The twelve-month cell on the card stays unverified, because the deduction repeats every two months until the balance is gone. The options page lists parking, and letting a number lapse, beside a hold like this one.

What does deregistration mean on the English page?

Deregistration is the English name for the step the Persian second item calls expropriation. The same English agreement defines it: "Means the process whereby the subscriber is denied access to the network, with its SIM Card and MSISDN being deregistered. Thereby, the Licensee is entitled to transfer the vacant MSISDN to others."

The subscriber is denied access to the network. The SIM and the number are deregistered. The licensee is entitled to transfer the vacant number to someone else. Entitled to transfer is what that sentence gives the licensee. A later clause on the same English page says Irancell may, forthwith and without notice, suspend services or deregister the SIM when the subscriber breaches the agreement or a CRC resolution. That clause is the breach. The inactivity tab says notice is given.

The verb will, in the English deduction, stays in that paragraph. The Persian tab's verb stays may.

File	Day count as printed	What the page says happens	What it counts
Persian condition	90 days from registration, or 90 consecutive days	Irancell may, after notice, follow the two items	no transaction except free transactions. Whether a received bank code is a free transaction is unverified
Persian item (a)	a three-month period, then every two months	may deduct at most 20 minutes of the postpaid base voice rate from remaining credit	a transaction. The rial amount is unverified on this paragraph
Persian item (b)	when there is no remaining credit, or the credit is exhausted	Irancell may, after notice, two-way disconnect or expropriate	unverified
English deduction	three months, then every two months	16,240 Rials will be deducted until the balance is depleted	no transactions, with a remaining balance. Roaming is unverified

Questions people ask

How long can I keep an Iranian phone number while abroad?

The Persian tab's opening condition is 90 days from registration without activation, or 90 consecutive days with no transaction except free transactions. When credit remains, that tab may deduct after a three-month period with no transaction, at most the tariff of 20 minutes of the postpaid base voice rate, then the same amount every two months until the credit is gone. When there is no credit, Irancell may, after notice, two-way disconnect or expropriate. The English tab prints that 16,240 Rials will be deducted after three months with a remaining balance and no transactions, then the same amount every two months until the balance is depleted.

Does day 90 mean my Irancell number is already gone?

Persian item (b) says Irancell may, after notice, two-way disconnect or expropriate when there is no credit, and the English tab prints a deduction of 16,240 Rials.

What does the English agreement deduct after three months?

After three months with a remaining balance and no transactions, 16,240 Rials will be deducted. If the lack of transactions continues, the same amount will be deducted every two months until the balance is depleted.